Muslim girl in Assam assaulted for wearing jeans, three held

Guwahati, Nov 1: Three people were arrested in Assam's Biswanath district after an elderly man allegedly verbally abused and assaulted a 22-year-old Muslim woman for wearing jeans instead of a burqa, police said.

Police said that mobile accessories shop owner Nurul Amin on Friday misbehaved with the woman and then pushed her out of his store because she was wearing jeans and not the burqa. Subsequently, on Saturday, Amin's two sons physically assaulted the girl the next day.

The woman had gone to Amin's shop to buy a pair of earphones. "Nurul Amin not only refused to sell earphones, but also verbally abused my daughter for wearing jeans instead of a burqa. He then pushed her out of the shop," the girl's father told the media on Monday.

The woman said: "This type of people are trying to enforce the Taliban system in Assam and forcing girls to wear burqa and hijab. I am pursuing BCA (Bachelor of Computer Application) at a government college. I studied Assamese culture but now these people tried to follow us the Taliban style by wearing burqa and hijab."

"When I went to his shop (inside his house), Amin told me that if I visited his house wearing jeans, it would influence his family because his daughter-in-law wears a burqa or hijab. Amin and his sons also misbehaved with my father when my father went to the shop to complain about his behaviour."

Police said that they have arrested Amin and his two sons -- Suffiqul Islam and Rafiqul Islam, and were probing the matter.