Overview
- A bystander video from Bahri market on Sunday shows Santosh Pathak beating vendor Hema Singh with a stick and punching her during a dispute over a stall.
- Sidhi police registered an FIR within an hour, booking Pathak and Rahul Dwivedi under BNS Sections 296(b), 115(2) and 351(3), and list both as absconding.
- Investigators are examining the viral footage and recording statements, with officers noting that complaints have been filed by both sides.
- The accused is described in reports as a YouTuber with alleged BJP links, though police deny any formal party affiliation as photographs with political figures circulate online.
- Singh says her cart was removed days earlier and that bystanders did not intervene during the assault, which has drawn criticism from Congress and the Trinamool Congress targeting the state government on women’s safety.