Tell a fruit seller in Bhandup this is punishment for operating during the COVID-19 lockdown
Mumbai police personnel seem to have found a novel way to dispense justice and punishment in the times of the Coronavirus lockdown. In an April 20 incident from Bhandup, the local police allegedly punished a fruit seller for operating in a neighbourhood by exhorting people to loot the woman's stock worth Rs 5,000.
The incident occurred in the Sonapur area of Bhandup. Gudiya Khan sells seasonal fruits and supports her disabled husband and two kids. On the evening of April 20, Khan left her home to sell with a card full of grapes. She was a few metres away from her home when she saw cops approaching her.
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"Apart from me, there was one more fruit-seller. He fled as soon as he saw the cops, but I did not," said Khan. "They asked me what I was doing, I replied I am selling fruits. They told me to leave my cart and stand aside at a distance."
People take grapes from Gudiya Khan's cart as police watch. Pics/Rajesh Gupta
The personnel attached to the Bhandup police allegedly asked a passerby to take grapes from the cart. They warned Khan that if she violates the lockdown, she will meet the same fate. Within 10 to 15 minutes, Khan's cart was empty.
A resident, seeing the incident, recorded it on the phone. "I heard a lot of noise. When I came out of my house to see what the matter was, I saw two cops shouting at a woman and passersby started grabbing bunches of grapes," the resident told mid-day.
Afraid of the police, Khan did not report the matter.
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