BRAID CUTTING SCARE REACHES LUCKNOW
GOMTI NAGAR INCIDENT Woman in Ujariaon area alleges her hair cut while she was asleep, but cops say it’s a selfscripted story
LUCKNOW: The braid cutting scare reached the state capital as a 29-year-old woman alleged that her hair was cut while she was sleeping in her room in Ujariaon locality of Gomti Nagar on Tuesday-Wednesday intervening night. With people talking about different rumours, unusual calm prevailed in the area, barely 500 metres from the Gomti Nagar police station. The police said the incident seemed to be ‘selfscripted’ by the woman but further probe was on.
LUCKNOW:The braid cutting scare reached the state capital as a 29-year-old woman alleged that her hair was cut while she was sleeping in her room in Ujariaon locality of Gomti Nagar on Tuesday-Wednesday intervening night.
With people talking about different rumours, unusual calm prevailed in the area, barely 500 metres from the Gomti Nagar police station. The police said the incident seemed to be ‘selfscripted’ by the woman but further probe was on.
The incident apparently occurred when one Pooja Kannaujia was sleeping in a rented room with her husband, Raju Kannuajia, a washerman. Pooja said she was sleeping on a mat while her husband was sleeping on the bed when she suddenly sensed somebody touching her feet. The woman said she rushed out of the room and saw a cat jumping over the wall of the house, after which she returned to the room only to realise that her braid had been chopped. Pooja, however, failed to confirm whether the room’s door was open or closed and avoided talking about the incident, stating she was feeling drowsy.
Her husband told cops that the room was locked from inside and there was no forced entry in the room. He came to know about the incident when his wife shouted and woke him up.
Vishwajeet Singh, station officer of Gomti Nagar police station, said the police team rushed to the spot after getting a call from a local. He said initial probe suggested that the entire incident was a self- scripted story.
Singh said a pair of scissors with some hair stuck in it was found under Raju’s bed. He said primary examination also suggested that the hair had been cut properly with a scissor.
The braid cutting scare started from desolate villages of Bikaner about two months ago. Its first casualty was reported on August 3 from Agra, where a 60-year-old woman was allegedly lynched on suspicion of chopping hair.
In two months, about 100 cases of hair chopping have been reported from villages in Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana and UP leading to fear and night vigils. Officials believe that many incidents may have gone unreported as the villagers did not lodge complaints. In UP, nearly two dozen cases of braid cutting have reported from Kanpur, Bareilly, Agra, Aligarh, Meerut, Jhansi and Badaun.
IN TWO MONTHS, NEARLY 100 CASES OF HAIR CHOPPING HAVE BEEN REPORTED FROM VILLAGES IN RAJASTHAN, DELHI, HARYANA AND UP