Angry men beat woman for allegedly smoking inside place of worship

A woman was allegedly beaten up by a group of men after she allegedly smoked a beedi at the Golden Temple in the Amritsar city of India’s Punjab.

A beedi is a thin cigarette or mini-cigar filled with tobacco flake, popular in some South Asian countries.

According to a report by Swarajya Magazine, smoking is considered a taboo among the followers of the Sikh faith because the tenth Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh, made it a prohibition.

A video of the incident has recently gone viral on social media in which some angry sewadars — volunteers who offer their help to a gurdwara or to the community for religious reasons — could be seen interrogating the woman and later beating her up to punish her after they allegedly found her smoking within the premises of the temple.

Even though the daughter of the woman told the men that her mother made a mistake as she was old-fashioned but faithful, the sewadars lost their cool and started slapping the woman.

The woman apologised but it fell on deaf ears and they slapped her again. The woman was allowed to go without being handed over to the police, the report said.

The report further adds that smoking inside Gurudwaras has been penalised under section 295A of the Indian Penal Code for inciting religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.

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