The bizarre incidents of women’s hair being chopped off by unidentified attackers, earlier reported in Rajasthan and Haryana, are now seeing a repeat in the Capital with three women claiming their hair was snipped as they lay unconscious in south-west Delhi’s Chhawla on Sunday.
The victims, all in their fifties, had just returned from tending to their cattle when the attackers allegedly struck. All the incidents were reported from Kangan Heri village in Chhawla.
After inspecting the crime scenes, the police have taken hair samples and seized all scissors and other sharp equipment from the victims’ households. The police said they have not ruled out the involvement of close family members or the purported victims having chopped the braids themselves.
No link, say cops
They have, however, prima facie ruled out any link with similar incident in the other States. Deputy Commissioner (South-West) Surendra Kumar said that separate cases of molestation, assault and Arms Act have been registered in the matter.
The first incident was reported around 10.30 a.m. when Munesh ( 55), who lived with two sons and family members, returned home after giving water to cattle at her farm by the village outskirts. Her son Rahul said his mother had complained of pain and when his wife went to check, she found Munesh’s braid had been chopped off.
Another victim, Shri Devi (50), also fell unconscious at her home at about 8 p.m. She too had returned from her farming land after giving water to cattle and experienced a similar pain as Munesh had and found some of her hair missing. She too was hospitalised.
CCTV footage
The third victim, Omwati ( 51), said she was sleeping outside her house around 11 p.m. when she felt a pain in her head. She tried to wake her son who was sleeping nearby before fainting. When she came to her senses, she found some of her hair missing. The police said, in each of the three cases, the snipped hair was left at the spot. They said CCTV footage of the entry points of the concerned localities showed nothing suspicious.