Gujarat: Widow thrashed over her anti-corona chants

AHMEDABAD: A widow, who had taken to loudly chanting mantras praying to ‘Mataji’ to chase away fear and doom unleashed by coronavirus pandemic, was allegedly thrashed by her neighbours irked by her constant singing.
A 45-year-old woman named Babuben Rathod has filed a complaint with Dehgam police station that her neighbour Vanaji Thakor (50) and his son Siddhraj (25) injured her on the head by hurling a brick and also verbally abused her.
Babuben in her complaint has stated she has been living alone in her house in Vardha Na Muvada village in Dehgam after the death of her husband some years back. The widow has stated that on July12 afternoon, she was offering prayers to ‘Mataji’ by lighting a lamp and chanting as she had got scared of the corona pandemic.
“While I was chanting, the father-son duo came to my house and angrily questioned me why I was chanting so loudly. I told them that I was only offering prayers in my house for safety against corona. The two however started verbally abusing me and hit me on the head with a brick,” the woman has alleged in her complaint.
The altercation attracted the neighbours from the locality who called 108 emergency services. Upon the widow's complaint, the police have arrested the father and son who have been charged with IPC section 324 (causing injury), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 294 (C) (uttering abusive language).