MP: Man defaces Ambedkar's statue; police say 'person mentally unwell'

Sidhi: B. R. Ambedkar’s statue was defaced by a man in Madhya Pradesh’s Sidhi district, police said on Monday.

An official said that the incident occurred on Sunday when a middle-aged man arrived at the statue installed at a square in the city, and put red colour and some edible material on the portion of the face of the statue.

A CCTV footage shared by Sidhi District Police on its official ‘X’ handle, showed that a man carrying a small-sized bag in his hand climbed on a platform where a life-size statue of Ambedkar is installed, put color and left the spot within two minutes.

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The place where this statue is installed is the busiest square and is located hardly 200 meters away from the Sidhi district headquarters (collector office) and the district court.

The incident came to light after a local resident filed a complaint at City Kotwali, following which the police team carried out a search and the person seen in the CCTV footage was arrested from a village under the Jamodi police station, around 20 km from the stop.

An official said that the arrested person has been identified as Ravendra Singh Chouhan, who is suspected to be marginally mentally unwell.

He added that during interrogation, Chouhan confessed to his crime.

“The accused Ravendra Singh Chouhan, who is mentally unwell, smeared food items on the statue and applied sandalwood paste. A police team rushed to the site and immediately got the statue cleaned. He has confessed to the act and further action is underway,” in-charge of the police station, Pushpendra Mishra said.

Mishra further added that during the investigation, family members and villagers said that Chouhan has been mentally unwell for the last few years.

However, when some local media persons asked Chouhan why he defaced Ambedkar’s statue, he replied: “Wo (Ambedkar) bade aadmi hai and achhe aadmi hai. Maine chandan layaya hai unko aur wahi chandan apne ko bhi lagaya hai. (He is a good and great person. I have put chandan on his forehead, and the same on mind forehead.”

A group of members of the Bhim Army on Monday staged a protest against the incident, however, police took the situation under control immediately.

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