Minor repair work carried out at the rented apartment of three women from Arunachal Pradesh was the starting point of a dispute that led to allegations of racial abuse and led to an FIR against a neighbor couple in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar.
The three women accused their neighbors of insulting and intimidating, citing racist insults and sexist remarks.
The incident occurred while the two women were carrying out repair work at their rented apartment in Malviya Nagar, leading to an altercation with their neighbours, Harsh Singh and his wife Ruby Jain, last week.
An FIR has since been registered under BNS sections relating to insulting the modesty of women and promoting hostility on the grounds of religion, race, etc., against the couple, news agency PTI reported.
What happened?
The incident occurred on February 20 when the three women called an electrician at their apartment at 3.30pm to install an air conditioner.
During this process, dust and debris resulting from the excavation work required for the installation fell on the ground, raising objections from residents Harsh Singh and his wife, PTI reported.
While speaking to news agency ANI, one of the women said that during the repair work, some dust particles fell on the first floor, which made Singh and his wife “very angry”.
The complainant alleged that Singh used threats and called the police
The couple allegedly abused the electrician whom the women called in for installation work. According to one of the women, they defended the electrician, saying that he was doing drilling work in their place.
“We asked him why he was abusing the electrician. The electrician was apologetic too. But then they started fighting with us,” the woman told ANI. She also claimed that the accused threatened her.
The woman said: “He said very bad things and then the fight started. We went upstairs after a while but he didn’t stop. He kept screaming from downstairs and then called the police, which led to a fight again.”
Racist abuse and sexist remarks
Videos of the incident are circulating on social media, one of which shows the accused woman allegedly calling the women of Arunchali “momo” — used as an insult, in reference to the popular food in the northeast of the country.
Speaking in Hindi, the accused also said: “You work in massage parlors $500. Are you sitting here doing business (‘dhandha’)? Have you opened a massage parlor at home?
Video clips show a police officer who was present during the altercation. The officer can be seen trying to calm the situation. The accused woman also allegedly used threats against the three by referring to her husband’s position, saying: “Do you know who he is? He is the son of a customs employee.”
HT.com has not independently verified the authenticity of these videos.
In another part of the video, the accused responds after one of the women described her husband as “old.”
“Go into my bedroom. You’ll know how old he is,” she says.
Meanwhile, the accused man was seen shouting and using insulting words against the three women.
During the exchange, the women from Arunachal also alleged that the couple had made “false allegations” against them.
One woman says: “Everyone heard what I said about my picture. I made false claims that I drink alcohol. Go check my room if you find any bottles in there.”
What did the police say? What did the women demand?
After the incident, the police registered an FIR under BNS sections 79 (word intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 3(5) (common intention), 196 (promoting enmity on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.) against Singh and his wife, PTI reported.
No arrests have been made so far. However, Section 196 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act is a non-bailable offence.
No physical injuries were reported, but the complainants alleged “mental harassment and humiliation,” a senior police officer told PTI.
The women demanded an official apology from the accused couple, saying that these statements not only hurt them, but also targeted the dignity of the entire northeastern community. “They should face some punishment, because how can someone say such things and get away with it,” one of the women told ANI.
