NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Women in an eastern Indian
forest are stripping naked to distract police and to
help a criminal gang avoid arrest while illegally
chopping down trees, the Hindustan Times reported
Tuesday.
Some of the women belong to a timber mafia in the
heavily-forested state of Jharkhand while others are
paid to strip in front of the police, who are too
embarrassed to arrest them or too distracted to hunt
the gang down, the daily said.
"It is proving tough to deal with these women,"
Jharkhand forest official B.K. Singh said. "It has
almost become a regular practice for them to strip."
India's forest cover has fallen due to illegal cutting
of trees in the past few decades. Anyone felling a
tree faces up to a year in prison, a fine of up to
5,000 rupees ($115) or both.
Only 21 percent of India is covered by forests
compared with a recommended 33 percent by the federal government.
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The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable
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