MP woman cop shames lockdown violator, taken off field duty

Chhattarpur: A woman police officer in Madhya Pradesh was on Sunday taken off field duty after she shamed a man by writing on his forehead “keep off me as I have violated lockdown”.

The state is under a 21-day lockdown to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, though, like other parts of the country, several people have been violating it by loitering on the streets without a valid reason.

Police said the incident took place on Saturday evening when Sub Inspector Amita Agnihotri of Gaurihar police station was asking people in Chandrapur village, close to the Uttar Pradesh border, to keep indoors in view of the lockdown.

“She got hold of one man loitering around, and with a sketch pen wrote on his forehead ‘keep off me as I have violated lockdown’. A probe began after senior authorities got to know of the incident,” an official said.

Confirming the development, Chhattarpur Superintendent of Police Kumar Saurabh said Agnihotri had been “line attached”, a police term for personnel taken off duty as a punishment.

“Her act was unacceptable,” he added.