Police on Monday arrested five people and registered cases against ten others in connection with the Bihar-model stripping and beating up of a pregnant Tamil woman by a mob at Edappal in Malappuram on Sunday.
The incident happened near a busy textile shop along the Edappal - Kuttipuram road in the afternoon when a housewife complained that her child’s anklet had suddenly gone missing.

The workers in the shop and onlookers reportedly got hold of a gang of vagrant women who were hanging around  the area. A few of them heckled them and pulled down the saree of a pregnant woman and another woman in the gang when they denied having taken the anklet. On finding no trace of the ornament, the crowd beat up the women even as two children who were accompanying them cried loudly.

Though the police reached the area by then, it is alleged that neither they nor others who witnessed the incident tried to prevent the assault initially. Later, they took the women as well as the complainant to the police station and questioned them. However, the anklet could not be found.

As the women were in a weak condition, they were taken to the hospital and later let off. The pregnant woman was identified as Jyoti, 40, though it was not known where she  belonged to.  It was after some TV channels aired the report in the evening that the government realised the importance of the incident and the police swung into action. However, by then, the gang had already left the area and efforts to trace them proved futile. Police IG S Vijayanand who inquired into the incident has taken strong exception to the ‘inefficiency’ of the police in dealing with the case.

All five arrested  are workers in the textile shop. They have been charged with attempted rape and assault. Human rights activists have expressed strong protest against the police inaction during the incident. A court in Malappuram has also directed the police to apprise it of the progress made in the investigation.

The State Human Rights Commission has also taken a suo motu case in this regard. Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has warned that strong action would be taken against the accused.