A 30 year old Dalit woman was allegedly beaten, stripped and paraded naked by four women over a dispute at Gautampura village in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The incident took place on Monday during the Holi celebrations but came to light on Wednesday, March 27.
A video of the purported incident surfaced all over the internet. All four accused women were arrested as soon as the incident came to light.
Siasat reported, “On Monday, four women forcibly pulled the victim out of her house, beat her up and humiliated her by stripping her naked in public at Bachhora village of Gautampura police station area,” Superintendent of Police (Rural) Sunil Mehta said.
The four accused women belonged to the Scheduled Caste (SC) category, he added. According to a TOI report, the victim, belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) category, was left traumatized and sought refuge at her parents’ home.
One of the accused suspected that the victim was instigating her mother-in-law against her. She also suspected that the victim had taken her mother-in-law to Mandsaur without informing her, the police official said.
According to an eyewitness’ claim the accused woman dragged the victim out of her house and stripped her naked. The woman kept pleading for mercy, but the accused did not relent and they openly stripped her by tearing her clothes, the eyewitness told. They also took her to some distance on the common road of the village in the same condition.
The Superintendent of Police said that a case has been registered under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 354-A (sexual harassment) and 452 (wrongfully restraining and assaulting) against the four women, while assuring that those filming the incident will also face legal consequences.
