A local government official in India beat a female employee with a chair leg after yanking her to the floor by her hair — all because she asked him to wear a mask, according to reports Tuesday.
Bhaskar initially grabbed something from his desk to hit the woman – identified in local reports – while an elderly man grabbed his arm in a failed effort to restrain him.
As other staff watched in horror, Bhaskar flung the elderly man to the floor, too — then grabbed a chair leg from the floor and started beating his initial target as she cowered there.
A younger man eventually ran in and stopped the attack — with the video, which has no sound, appearing to show Bhaskar continuing to rant at his victim as she remains on the floor.
Investigators said Bhaskar flipped when the contract worker told him he should be wearing a mask, as worn by all the others seen in the footage, because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Enraged at this, Bhaskar allegedly abused her, dragged her from her chair, caught hold of her hair and started beating her on her face and head with a stick pulled out from a wooden chair,” sub-inspector of police K. Venugopal told the Hindustan Times, citing the complaint.
