‘Jeb katri’ tattoo gone, but scarred for life

SANGRUR: “Even after two decades, the sound of a needle gun painfully scribbling ‘jeb katri’ on my forehead is something that still haunts me and wakes me up in the middle of the night,” narrate the women, whose ghastly torture at the hands of three cops hit the headlines nationwide in December 1993.

The women who were branded ‘jeb katri’ by the police in 1993. Photo: TS Bedi

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, October 9

“Even after two decades, the sound of a needle gun painfully scribbling ‘jeb katri’ on my forehead is something that still haunts me and wakes me up in the middle of the night,” narrate the women, whose ghastly torture at the hands of three cops hit the headlines nationwide in December 1993.

Even more painful for them is the “mild” sentence awarded to the guilty policemen two days ago. The victims, Parmeshri, alias Kehar, Gurdev Kaur, Surjit Kaur Deepo and Mohinder Kaur, alias Mohindro, all residents of Sangrur, say the crime will remain “unpardonable and unforgettable”.

“We were tied to a chair inside the police post (in Amritsar). Two cops held us tight, while a handheld needle gun, meant for marking utensils, was used to engrave the words ‘jeb katri’ (pickpocket) on our foreheads,” recalls Parmeshri of Chhintawala village.

“As we writhed in pain, there was a power cut. But Sukhdev Singh Chinna (then SP) ordered his men to bring the battery of their official Gypsy, which they used to turn on the machine and complete the permanent marking on our foreheads,” she says.

The women, all related to each other, were in their mid-30s at that time. The incident brought disrepute to the Sainsi community, now branded as “bootleggers and pickpockets”.

The victims were on their way to a gurdwara in Tarn Taran, when they were rounded up by the police from a bus stand there.

Mohindro of Baghrian village says: “We were suspected of being pickpockets. The police sent us to jail without any concrete case against us. We were bailed out after almost a fortnight. But this was just the beginning. (Then SHO, Amargarh) Narinder Singh) Malhi nabbed Surjit Kaur in a market, garlanded her with shoes and paraded her in the area, saying the Sainsi community would be treated like this if caught stealing.”

The women allege that it was Malhi who first wrote on their foreheads with a pen and later a needle gun was used. “Since then till the day the marks were removed following court orders, we never left our heads uncovered,” Mohindro says.

A special CBI court, on Friday, awarded three-year imprisonment each to Cheena and Malhi, and one-year jail to ASI Kamaljit Singh for branding the women as “jeb katri”.

“All we want is justice as the policemen have been let off with a mild sentence. Only we know how we have fought the police all these years — both inside and outside the court,” claim Mohindro and Parmeshri.