Kolkata Police on Tuesday paraded three persons arrested for allegedly forcing a teenage boy, his father and a friend to walk naked in a south Kolkata locality through the same area shirtless and in shorts, to reconstruct the incident, news agency PTI reported. A day after their arrest, the girl's father, uncle and elder brother were taken through the locality bare-chested and barefoot, with ropes tied around their waists, a police official said.

Source: PTI

Senior police officers and personnel from Sarsuna Police Station were present during the reconstruction, which was videographed, IANS reported. According to police officials, the accused could be brought back to the spot again if required for further questioning and face-to-face interrogation.

Source: IANS via BizzBuzz

Why the police action has triggered a controversy

Many termed the police action instant justice for the vigilantism the area witnessed on Sunday evening, PTI reported, while other reports said the parading of the accused triggered a controversy over alleged human rights violations. The three men are accused in an ongoing investigation and have not been tried or convicted; the allegations against them are yet to be established in court.

The Sunday incident in Sarsuna

The incident took place on Sunday evening within the Sarsuna Police Station limits, after a 17-year-old boy was allegedly caught kissing his 13-year-old girlfriend by her family. After being caught, the boy and his friend were allegedly held captive in a room and assaulted by the girl's parents and maternal uncle, and the boy was then allegedly forced to call his father to the place, PTI reported. The victims are minors, and Awaaz Punjab is not naming them or printing any identifying details.

"After I reached there, I was also assaulted by at least six people. Then the girl's maternal uncle gave me a gun, saying that I have two options. One is to shoot my son or walk naked with him," the boy's father claimed in front of reporters, according to PTI. "People took videos of me, my son and his friend walking naked. It was such a humiliation for us," he said. A video purportedly of the incident has gone viral on social media; PTI said it could not vouch for its veracity.

According to the IANS report, the youth, his father and his friend were allegedly beaten with glass bottles and paraded at gunpoint for around 50 metres, and the youth's mother was also assaulted and later underwent a medical examination. Police have arrested the girl's father, elder brother and maternal uncle, while her mother was detained, PTI reported. The incident came to light after the video surfaced on social media, and an irate mob allegedly attempted to vandalise the girl's house, prompting police to rush to the spot and bring the situation under control, PTI said.

Investigators on Tuesday recreated the sequence of events and recorded the reconstruction as part of the ongoing probe. The reports available at the time of publication did not carry a Kolkata Police response to the human-rights criticism of the reconstruction parade.