The incident occurred on December 27 in the Tamnar block, where protests by residents of 14 villages against a proposed coal mining project turned violent.
Raigarh (Chhattisgarh): A video showing a woman police constable being assaulted during an anti-mining protest in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district has surfaced on social media, prompting widespread outrage.
Police said on Friday that two men have been arrested in connection with the incident, while efforts are under way to identify other individuals involved.
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The incident occurred on December 27 in the Tamnar block, where protests by residents of 14 villages against a proposed coal mining project turned violent. According to police, the woman constable was separated from her colleagues and left alone amid the crowd in an open field, where she was attacked.
The video, which began circulating online on Thursday, shows the constable on the ground, visibly distressed and pleading to be released, while two men assault her and tear her clothes. One of the accused is seen threatening her with a sandal, while another records the incident on a mobile phone.
Inspector General of Police (Bilaspur Range) Sanjeev Shukla said the arrested men are local residents. “Based on their statements and digital evidence, we are identifying others involved in the crime,” he said. The accused have been booked on charges including molestation, attempt to murder, looting and other serious offences, and further investigation is ongoing.
A blurred version of the video was shared on Instagram by the All India Mahila Congress on Friday, which described the incident as deeply disturbing and raised concerns over women’s safety and law and order in the state.
State Congress communication head Sushil Anand Shukla termed the episode “horrifying and shameful”, alleging that growing public anger against the police and administration reflected a loss of faith in the system.
“The video of a female police constable being assaulted and having her clothes torn in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, is extremely disturbing. If even female police officers are not safe, what hope is there for ordinary citizens? It is clear that the double-engine BJP government has completely failed on the fronts of women's safety and law and order,” read the caption.
Protest ongoing since December 12
The violence followed clashes between police and protesters near Libra village, where locals had been staging demonstrations since December 12, demanding the cancellation of a public hearing held for the proposed Gare Pelma Sector-I coal block, allotted to Jindal Power Limited. Protesters fear displacement, loss of livelihood and environmental damage due to mining activities.
During the clashes, several police personnel, including senior officers, were injured in alleged stone-pelting. Protesters also reportedly set fire to a police bus, a jeep and an ambulance, damaged multiple government vehicles, and vandalised infrastructure at Jindal Power’s coal handling plant, including a conveyor belt and office premises.
Villagers have claimed the situation escalated after police attempted to clear the protest site. During the unrest, another woman police officer, Kamla Pusam, the station house officer of Tamnar police station, was also allegedly assaulted.
A day after the violence, the Raigarh district administration announced that it had initiated the process to cancel the public hearing for the mining project.
PTI
Published: 02 Jan 2026, 03:07 pm IST
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