A 24-year-old woman was paraded half-naked at a midnight 'court' or 'majlis' - presided over by local 'leaders' - with a garland of shoes around her neck. Her alleged crime: stealing a pair of gold earrings from a neighbour's house.
And the theatre of action: Paschimpara in Gobardhandanga, declared a 'model village' for fewer cases registered over a year. The village falls under Sagardighi police station in Murshidabad.
The 'judges' of the 'court' admit the veracity of the incident.
The seven-member 'local disputes redressal committee', which passed the 'sentence', included a Congress member, Ajijur Rahaman, a CPI-M branch committee member, Bulmajon Sheikh, and a quack, Badsharul Haque alias Badsha.
Sheikh, when confronted with questions on the propriety of the 'court', said: "This kind of court that sorts out problems and gives verdicts on the spot, has been a part of our social custom". When prodded further, he retorted: "Marx and Lenin are kept out when we pass judgements at these courts".
Rahaman, secretary of the 'committee', agreed with Sheikh: "She was garlanded with the shoes at her own free will, as she denied to pay the fine that the court had decided."
The woman, reported missing since the incident on 19 April, returned today. But her mother, whose complaint was not registered by police at Sagardighi, has been missing since.
Ironically, the woman's husband, a mason working in Kolkata, agreed with the 'court's ruling'.
Momijul Haque, a local resident, explained: "In Gobardhandanga there are about 10 mohallas with separate justice cells for each... a majlis is organised to sort out the crimes of lesser degrees... it is our custom". Most of the disputes are sorted out by such 'courts' here and punishments vary from trimming the hair, and caning, to beating up with shoes, licking spit from the ground, and parading the accused naked or half-naked. All the 'judgements' are passed and executed at night. And a 'doctor' is kept waiting to treat the accused in cases of emergencies.
The woman in this case was also 'treated' by the 'doctor' - Badsha; and he admits to that too. "I injected (her with) medicines twice. Three bottles of saline were needed to bring her back to senses. The entire cost, including the medicines and my visit, was Rs 300," said Badsha.
His victim said: "They dragged me out of my home that night and took me to the 'sabha'... Badsha started trimming my hair with his clinical scissors... he kicked me too... others roughed me up with shoes... the women slapped me and the youths started pulling my saree... the leaders took off their shoes, put them like a garland around my neck and ordered me to parade... I fainted after walking a few steps".
No arrest has been made yet with regard to the incident, and the ASP Murshidabad Mr Shankar Singh said he was not even aware of such an incident. However, he said he would "look into the matter" and "initiate penal measures against the guilty".
PS: The local Sagardighi police
station is barely 12 km from the spot of the incident. However, no policeman
was available for a comment there.