A woman was beaten to death after a row with neighbors over her daughter’s western clothing turned into a riot.
Keshmal Dubey, 55, was killed after a long-running dispute over her daughter Gunjan’s choice of jeans over traditional Indian clothing descended into mob violence in the city of Aligarh, 90 miles from New Delhi.
Several people were injured in the trouble which started after a neighbour, named Pulwati, repeatedly criticised the 20-year-old college student’s choice of dress.
According to the Times, Aligarh police superintendent Amit Pathak said: ‘The girl’s neighbour would constantly pass comments on the way the girl dressed.
‘On this occasion, she was in jeans and the woman, as usual, started passing comments.
‘A fight ensued which grew ugly when the neighbour got other men to support her.’
The girl’s father, Netrapal Dubey, told India Today that the neighbour had asked him to stop his daughter wearing the jeans because it made her sons stare at the girl.
He said that she warned him that Gunjan was at risk of being sexually harrassed, or ‘Eve-teased’ as it is known in India, by young men.
Mr Dubey claims that a mob of men carrying guns and clubs forced their way into the family home and hit his wife over the head with a rifle butt, killing her and injuring him and his daughter.
The trouble was eventually diffused when fellow neighbours stepped in to halt the violence.
A man and a woman were arrested according to police and face charges of murder and attempted murder.
Police are still trying to identify some of the other people involved.
