Kerala: BSF jawans strip rest house staffer

Malappuram: Three BSF jawans, part of the central paramilitary force deployed in the district for election security, could not stand the sight of the watchman of the Tirur PWD rest house wearing dhoti and they stripped him of it on Friday. When it turned into a  major row, the jawans apologised and  said they had done it for fun.

The jawans from North India  are the guards of a senior officer stationed at the rest house. The incident happened when  watchman Manoj Valancheri,  belonging  to the scheduled caste, was on his way to switch on the water pump.  The jawans stripped  him in front of the women employees of a Kudumbashree canteen which operates on the premises of the rest house.

“I was humiliated and ran from the scene to hide inside a nearby room. The jawans began it as a joke but I was hurt by the incident. There were some people around there, including women,” Manoj said. The jawans also asked him to avoid wearing dhoti  and use pants instead. The police, who  reached the scene following a tip-off from the local media,  sorted out the issue without any complaint against the jawans who  agreed to  apologise to Manoj.

“The police asked me whether to register a complaint that would harm their service. I accepted their apology as I did not want to trouble them,” Manoj said. “The episode was just a joke and not intentional. Manoj has no complaint against them as well,” said Mr P. Sunil, Tirur SI.