Police in Ranchi have arrested a man who was allegedly found wearing a burqa at a Janmashtami event in the city on August 17. The Governor was in attendance at the cultural programme, as were senior officials of the Ranchi administration and the police.
The accused allegedly tried to mingle with the crowd, police said. The complaint was filed by Nusrat Parveen, who was in attendance and said she first noticed the man while stepping out to buy medicines during the programme.
“He was moving differently, and from the walk and feet, I realised this was not a woman but a man. When I saw him trying to leave the crowd, I alerted police officers nearby,” Parveen told The Indian Express.
She said the man was caught near Zila School, where he had boarded an e-rickshaw. “We stopped the rickshaw and forced him to step out. Once the veil was removed, it was clear he was a man. He first claimed he was searching for his wife, but this was nothing less than a conspiracy to disturb peace,” she alleged.
Parveen said that the act was intended to tarnish the image of the community and disrupt social harmony. “If it were genuinely a Muslim woman in a burqa, no one would object. But when a man from a different faith disguises himself in this way, it is suspicious,” she said.
Confirming the arrest, the officer in charge of Kotwali police station said, “On Janmashtami, during the Governor’s programme, a man in jeans was found wearing a burqa in suspicious circumstances. An FIR has been registered, and further inquiry is on.”
Asked if he was just roaming or doing something else, the officer said the act itself was “intended to disturb communal harmony”.
