Mumbai: A contractual civic employee was hit with a paver block for questioning a woman for not wearing a mask, in Mumbai's Bhandup area on Wednesday evening. The victim, identified as Darshana Chohan, 27, received four stitches on the head, following the attack. The police have arrested three women, Rohini Donde, 28, Shobha Donde, 50, and Seema Bhendare, 40 in connection with the incident. The two sisters work as house helps while the third is a vegetable vendor, police said.
The incident occurred on Wednesday evening near Bhandup railway station when Chohan, along with her team, were penalising people for not wearing masks. "Around 4pm, I stopped a woman who was not wearing a mask. However, instead of wearing the mask she had in her pocket, Rohini began to argue with me. Her language was abusive. When I asked her to wear a mask while speaking, she refused and dared me to do whatever I could. I repeatedly asked her to wear a mask at least while speaking but she refused and continued with her verbal abuses. At that point, we dialed 100," said Chohan.
When police arrived and asked her to come to the police station, Rohini refused to cooperate and instead, called two other women. "When they arrived, they began assaulting me and Rohini took a paver block and hit me on my head," added Chohan.
The police then rushed a bleeding Chohan to a nearby hospital, called for female police and took the trip to the police station. According to police, Chohan received four stitches on her head.
After her statement, the three women were arrested for voluntarily causing hurt (323), voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means (324), intentional insult to provoke breach of peace (504) and common intention (34) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The women were released on bail on Wednesday itself, as they were arrested on bailable sections, said an officer from the Bhandup police station.
