Punjab man brutally hits woman beggar with slippers outside temple, sparks outrage

A viral video showed a man assaulting a woman beggar outside Kapurthala's Mata Shri Bhadrakali Temple. The clip triggered outrage and prompted police to register an FIR.

In Short

• Woman beggar assaulted outside Kapurthala temple
• Man hit woman beggar with slippers
• Police have registered an FIR

A video showing a woman beggar being brutally assaulted outside a temple in Punjab’s Kapurthala has sparked outrage on social media, following which police have initiated action against the accused.

The incident occurred outside the gate of the historic Mata Shri Bhadrakali Temple, where the woman was sitting with children.

The video showed a man approaching the woman and saying something to her before taking off his slippers and repeatedly hitting her. When she tried to stop him, he held her hand and continued assaulting her.

Soon after, another woman arrived at the spot and intervened, following which a verbal argument appeared to have broken out between the beggar and the man. The man then slapped the beggar as well. A crowd soon gathered and intervened in an attempt to rescue the woman beggar, but the man pushed through and was seen kicking her.

The accused runs a shop opposite the temple and was furious after the children accompanying the woman were accused of tampering with his motorcycle, following which he assaulted her. The woman beggar has not lodged a complaint with the police so far.

After the video went viral, the Women’s Commission and the Human Rights Core Committee sought action in the matter. Police subsequently initiated an investigation based on the viral video and took suo motu notice of the incident.

DSP Sub-Division Sheetal Singh said that during the preliminary investigation, the man seen assaulting the woman in the video was identified as Vikas Sharma.

He said that an FIR has been registered, and police teams are conducting raids to arrest the accused.

- Ends
(With inputs from Suket Gupta)