An elected people’s representative in Jharkhand took the concept of public welfare to grotesque heights on Saturday when he tried to discipline an alleged alcoholic by getting his hands tied from a tall tree branch and leaving him hanging there for hours.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) legislator Jagannath Mahto, a politician long notorious for his wayward ways and the criminal cases he faced, said there was no better method to “reform a habitual drinker who has been causing trouble to his family”. Mahto, the MLA from Dumri Assembly constituency, passed the bizarre order at a “Jan Adalat” (programme to hear people’s grievances) he held in the village. The incident at Bhandarida village in Jharkhand’s western Bokaro district triggered outrage across the state.
The hapless man, Jitendra Chaudhary, stayed painfully hanging from the tree branch for several hours before the MLA ordered his release upon requests by the local villagers. In fact, Chaudhary’s wife had complained to the MLA that the man, in his 30s, had been drinking hard and causing frequent financial suffering to the family.
“His wife said he had sold his motorbike and her jewelleries to buy liquor to drink. This is a serious matter. Such offenders must be reformed with strict disciplining. We released him when he promised that he would not drink again,” said Mahto. Chanudhary, however, denied the charges.
The police were yet to take any action against the MLA. The JMM offered platitudes about the impropriety of the MLA’s act. “The party will find out the extent of his involvement in this particular incident,” said JMM core committee member Vinod Pandey. Mahto was earlier in the news for publicly admiring the methods of the Maoists as an antidote for the socio-political corruption in Jharkhand.