The man was arrested today and a search was on for the community members who had ordered and carried out the "ritual", officials said.
The hair-cutting incident occurred on February 5 in a village under the Kukdur police station, around 75 km away from the district headquarter, Superintendent of Police, Kawardha, Lal Umed Singh told PTI.
Narrating the sequence of events, Singh said, "On January 21, the girl was molested by a person identified as Arjun Yadav (22) when she had gone to work at a construction site in the area. Following this, she informed her parents who informed the local village panchayat."
"However, on February 4, the Baiga Adivasi community, to which the girl belongs, convened a meeting and ostracised her family stating that their daughter had become impure due to the molestation incident," the SP said.
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"The community members also ordered that the girl's hair be chopped off in order to purify her," he said, adding that the girl's hair was cut the next day.
Her family also had to organise a feast for members of the community, the SP said.
"At least 10 people, including three women, who were involvedin chopping off the girl's hair, are at large and efforts are on to trace them," the officer said.
He said that a case had been registered in this connection.
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