Three women from Arunachal Pradesh were allegedly subjected to racial slurs, humiliation, and intimidation by their neighbours in south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar after a dispute over repair work at their rented flat. The neighbours reportedly used other derogatory terms targeting the northeastern community. The police saidan FIR under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita(BNS) pertaining to outraging a woman’s modesty and promoting enmity on grounds of religion, race, etc., has been registered against two people—Harsh Singh and his wife Ruby Jain.

On February 20, the women had called an electrician to their fourth-floor flat around 3.30 pm to install an air conditioner. Dust and debris from the drilling fell to the floor below, prompting objections from the neighbours. What began as a disagreement over falling debris soon escalated, with the women alleging that the couple hurled abuses and made racial and derogatory remarks. A purported video of the incident has been circulating on social media.

In the purported video, the accused woman can be heard calling the northeastern women "momo" and saying, "Rs 500 mei massage parlour mei kaam karne waali...." She also asked, "Are you sitting here to do business? Have you opened a massage parlour at home?" The accused man is also allegedly heard using derogatory remarks.

The victims confronted the couple in the video. One of the women is heard saying, "Everyone heard what you said about my image. You made false allegations that I drink alcohol. Go check my room if you find any bottles there."

Speaking to PTI Videos, one of the women who is preparing for the UPSC, said, "Instead of talking about the main issue, they started targeting Northeast. They kept saying that northeastern people are illiterate. They even threatened to beat me up."

The FIR was registered at Malviya Nagar police station under BNS sections 79 (word intended to insult a woman’s modesty), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 3(5) (common intention), and 196 (promoting enmity on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.) against the couple. No arrests have been made so far. A senior officer said, "No physical injuries were reported. However, the complainants have alleged mental harassment and humiliation."

The women have demanded a formal apology, stating the remarks were targeted at the dignity of the northeastern community. Advocate Reena Rai, representing the women, said, "As neighbours, they should have provided these women, who live far away from home, a sense of security. Instead, they harassed them and made filthy remarks." Advocate Gaurav, representing the couple, said, "The matter is being unnecessarily exaggerated on social media. In the video, both sides are speaking. The video being circulated is selective and manipulative."

He further added that "Harsh is at his home and is mentally disturbed due to the video going viral. He is receiving threats on social media... This case is not about racial discrimination... My client has expressed regret over his words..."

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Sudhanshu Mishra is a Senior Copy Editor at Times Now. While his day-to-day work centres on news, his writing interests lie in the intersections of cu...View More

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