Paraded With Shoe Garland: Woman Shamed in Kukubari Over Leaked Private Videos, 5 Arrested

In yet another shocking case of moral policing, a woman from Kukubari village of the Chencoorie area in Silchar was publicly humiliated by locals who accused her of spreading obscene video content. The incident took place on Tuesday, May 20, and has led to the arrest of five people by Cachar Police, including two women.

According to police sources, the victim was paraded across the village with a garland made of shoes and her face smeared with lime paste, a symbolic act of public shaming. This was allegedly ordered by a kangaroo court (Bichar in local lingo) formed by villagers who accused her and her husband of being involved in the circulation of explicit videos.

The victim, however, has denied all such allegations. In her complaint, she stated that she would regularly communicate with her husband, currently working in Bangalore, via video calls, some of which turned intimate. Her husband used to “record” those private moments. On a recent visit back home, he reportedly lost his phone during the train journey. Soon after, private videos from the phone surfaced online. “Some miscreants might have found his phone and leaked the videos”, she added.

The videos, once leaked, spread rapidly across local WhatsApp groups and social media platforms, drawing the attention of the locals. Alleging that the couple was “running a business” and sharing these videos in exchange for money, some women from the village decided to take matters into their own hands and convened a community-led hearing, or bichar.

The mob-led punishment was recorded and widely circulated online, prompting the National Highway Outpost to intervene. Acting on the woman’s formal complaint, Cachar Police arrested five people on Tuesday—Kishan Das (26), Ranjit Das (26), Kripesh Das (22), Sailabala Das (55), and Sadhona Das (35), all residents of Kukubari. They were produced before the district court on Wednesday, May 21.

Police said further investigation is ongoing to identify others involved in the moral policing act. As per sources, more than 50 people were involved in this, who are currently being identified by the Cachar Police based on various evidence.

It’s worth mentioning here that the moral policing and public assault have taken a sharp rise in the district. With another incident surfacing from the Second Link Road area of the town, where a mob tied a thief to a car, assaulted and shaved off his head for stealing a mobile phone. Three people were arrested in this connection as well.