PATIALA: Over 23 years after a group of policemen in Amritsar tattooed the words 'Jeb Katri' (pickpocket) on the foreheads of four women, a special CBI court in Patiala recently sentenced three of them in the case, triggering widespread condemnation.
Special CBI judge Baljinder Singh awarded three years rigorous imprisonment to then superintendent of police Sukhdev Singh Chinna and sub-inspector Narinder Singh Malli, then SHO of Rambagh police station. The incident dating back to December 1993, had brought a lot of defamation to Punjab Police. Policemen tattooed the words on the foreheads of four habitual offender women who were accused of stealing a purse. It came to light when they were produced in court for a hearing, with their foreheads covered with a piece of cloth. It wasn't until one of the women showed her tattoo to the court that the story hit the news.
The National Human Rights Commission took a serious note of the incident, and had even submitted an affidavit in the court demanding a CBI probe. After hearing the counsel of the NHRC and petitioners, the high court handed over the probe to the CBI, and also directed Punjab government to arrange for plastic surgery for the victims and pay compensation of Rs 50,000 to each of them, as recommended by the rights body.
As per the petition, the victims alleged that they had gone to visit the Golden Temple in Amritsar on December 8, 1993. After paying obeisance when they reached the bus stand, ASI Kanwaljit Singh stopped them and kept them in custody from December 8 to 15. Later, the ASI on the directions of the SP and SHO, got the word pickpocket tattooed on their foreheads. Police had alleged that it was the women's neighbours who had done the deed "to make people aware about their misdeeds".
