Bangladeshi woman arrested for shouting ’Joy Bangla’ slogan in India

A 27-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly shouting 'Joy Bangla' slogan during an eviction drive in Podu village, adjacent to Jigani in south Bengaluru, India. The local police have claimed that the woman had entered India from Bangladesh 'illegally' and was living in Bengaluru.

The arrested woman's name is Sharbanu Khatun. She works as a domestic help. She had been living with her husband in Podu village in Bengaluru for the past few years. When local administration officials were carrying out an eviction drive using a JCB, she shouted 'Joy Bangla' slogan. That is when she came to the attention of the police.

Recently, a video went viral on social media platforms. It can be seen that the person recording the video kept shouting the slogan 'Bharat Mata ki Joy' during the eviction drive. Sharbanu Khatun said 'Joy Bangla' instead. Although after a few seconds she started chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. But after the woman chanted 'Jai Bangla', tension arose among the people of the area.

Later, in the wake of the viral video, Hebbagodi police station head constable Bhusha Bendra filed a complaint on January 11. According to the police, the woman was chanting 'Jai Bangla' with an evil intention. Moreover, they claim that raising the slogan of another country from India is an attack on the sovereignty of the country.

A case has been filed against Sharbanu Khatun under Sections 152 (acts prejudicial to the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India), 196 (acts prejudicial to the promotion of enmity between different groups on the basis of religion, caste, place of birth, residence, language, etc.), 197 (allegations, demands prejudicial to national unity) and 353 (statements likely to cause public harm) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).