Punjab Government on Friday ordered an inquiry into a controversial beauty contest advertisement in Bathinda, offering the “general category” women, a groom settled in Canada. The police have booked two for announcing such a contest.
The organizers put up posters at public places in the city advertising the contest to be held at a hotel on October 23. The advertisement specifically mentioned that the beauty contest was only for women from ‘general caste’.
Condemning the pasting of the posters to organize a beauty competition in Bathinda “to choose a girl of a particular caste for marriage”, Punjab Social Security, Women and Child Development Minister Dr Baljit Kaur ordered the Social Security, Women and Child Development Department’s director to submit a report of matter as soon as possible.
Along with this, Dr Baljit Kaur has also asked Bathinda Deputy Commissioner to take strict action under the section 4 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Management) Act, 1986; following which, an FIR has been filed against those who planted the controversial flex and arrested.
Dr Baljit Kaur said that the matter came to her notice through social media. “There will be an awareness march in the city against the incident,” she said, adding that the desire of Punjabis to settle abroad also causes such incidents to happen.
Notably, the posters went viral on social media, and the people started calling on the phone numbers given on the posters to voice their objection to such a contest. Later, these numbers were found to be switched off. They also expressed their anger on social media too and several residents approached the police to take action against the organizers.
The accused have been identified as Surinder Singh and Ram Dyal Singh Jaura. The Kotwali police booked them under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 419 (cheating by personation), 501 (printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 109 (Punishment of abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment), Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act section 6 (penalty for indecent representation of women) and Punjab Prevention of Defacement of Property Act section 3 (defacing public property).