Woman 'paraded naked' in Indian capital for fighting illegal liquor den

Female activist and her colleagues were on a night patrol in Delhi's Narela area to help identify illegal shops

A female activist was allegedly beaten and paraded naked for fighting against illegal liquor trade in the Narela area of the Indian capital, Delhi.

The incident took place a few days ago when the woman and her colleagues were on a night patrol to help identify illegal shops, BBC News reported.

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), with whom the woman was a volunteer, has strongly condemned the attack on her.

Police said the woman was assaulted but denied she had been paraded naked.



In a video that has gone viral, the victim claimed that she was "dragged and disrobed" for opposing those who are running illegal liquor dens.


The commission put out a statement in which it said the woman volunteer had "marks of iron rods on her body". The statement also alleged that she was assaulted by people who were selling illicit liquor.



As criticism on social media grew, police tweeted that the matter was being investigated. They described the incident as a "quarrel by some ladies".

Swati Maliwal, the president of the women's panel, tweeted that it was "shameful" that the police were terming the incident as a mere quarrel.

Shameful 2 term incident as 'quarrel' when ppl who attackd Praveen, threatend her & DCW team in front of me last night. Also no MLC records someone's insult on having been paraded naked! She has iron rod marks on body & is still hospitalised! Police Maalkhana is at 50 m, pl chk! https://t.co/U5PJuIPFQk

— Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) December 7, 2017

Swati told Hindustan Times that the volunteer, who lived near the area, was surrounded by a group of men and women and attacked.

“The owner of the illegal liquor shop, along with a mob, surrounded the female volunteer. She was beaten up with iron rods, her clothes were torn and she was paraded naked in the locality,” she added.



The victim, in a video statement released by the commission, said she was attacked with iron rods. “When I was being dragged naked, a policeman arrived at the scene and tried to save me. He asked the crowd to leave me, but they beat him also. They said they will do the same with the DCW chief and others who had come yesterday,” she maintained.

The police said the woman's clothes had been "torn a little" in the scuffle and that none of the assailants were men.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said it was "utterly shocking and shameful" that such an incident had occurred in the capital.

Many Indians die every year from drinking illegally brewed alcohol.