The painted stranger reappeared at the head of a torch-lit parade of"wild figures in the Indian dress" attended by raucous musicians and"applauding spectators," including women.
The author adding "including women" at the end of the sentence proves that it was truly surprising to see women outside of a house environment during the colonial era. Watching this performance just required being on street to view it, thus proving how odd it was to see a women not doing house work during this time.