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Updated: Jun 24, 2019 17:00 IST

Police have started an investigation into a case of alleged sexual harassment of a group of women during a “traditional ritual” in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh.

On June 19, a group of women in Tangzen village in Tawang assembly seat, which is represented by BJP MLA Tsering Tashi, were allegedly asked to swear that they had voted for the BJP in the national and state elections. The women also alleged that a man, who claimed to be a leader from the ruling BJP, molested two women during the ritual ceremony.

Police have registered a molestation case following a complaint by the husband of one of the women and 13 others, a police officer said, adding that “the women have complained that they were forced to take part in the traditional ritual against their will.

“We are conducting an investigation,” the local police officer in Tawang said.

A video of the incident, which is circulating online, shows a man molesting two women while a group of them are asked to swear that they voted for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the last parliamentary and assembly polls. HT cannot independently verify the video’s authenticity.

The incident, occurred during the ritual practised among Monpas, a predominantly Buddhist ethnic group, living in Tawang and West Kameng districts.

“It could be part of Nahki, a ritual practised by Monpas when no solution is arrived at for a dispute,” said Jumyir Basar, associate professor at the Arunachal Institute of Tribal Studies of Itanagar-based Rajib Gandhi University.

“It involves swearing in the name of religious scripture. Something akin to swearing in the name of the Gita, Bible or the Koran,” she added.

BJP legislator Tsering Tashi has dismissed reports that the man was from his party.

“The person is not an office bearer of the BJP. Some people are trying to tarnish the party’s as well as my image,” Tashi said.

The Arunachal Pradesh Women Welfare Society, (APWWS), an Itanagar-based NGO, has condemned the incident and asked the government to take stringent action against those involved.