Jaipur: In a rare incident, the women, who went to the forest to cut and collect wood for cooking in 1977, would have not imagined in their wildest dreams also that they would be punished after five decades that is 2023 for their offence. The incident took place in Hindoli block in the Bundi district of Rajasthan.
The police arrested women from Bhilwara and Bundi districts. However, the court, considering the age of the arrested women, disposed of the case by imposing a fine. The case dates back to 1977 and a case was registered against 12 women for cutting wood from the forest, but the police forgot the case. Recently, the Bundi police launched a special campaign against permanent warranties of the police stations and then this case came to light.
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To dispose of the case, the police launched a search to trace the accused women and arrested seven of them from Bhilwara and Bundi districts. The SHO of Sadar police station of Bundi, Arvind Bhardwaj, said that the special team of police arrested seven of the 12 women. Three of them died while two could not be traced.
The arrested women identified as 70-year-old Jumma Devi, 75-year-old Motian Bai, 72-year-old Teekad, 75-year-old Lalibai, 70-year-old Bachi Bai, 75-year-old Pushpa and 70-year-old Kamla. Apart from this, cases were also registered against five other women. Three of them have died. The relatives handed over their death certificates to the court. While the police are still looking for two women.
Considering the age of the women, the court has just imposed the fine. The women said that they were not aware of the laws at that time and firewood was a necessity to cook so they would go to the forest regularly to collect. A forest employee saw them and registered a case against them.