DHAR: A tribal woman was paraded naked and beaten by a group of men on the suspicion that she was practicing witchcraft and was the cause of illnesses in Mandvi village of Dhar district.
A video of this barbarism went viral on Friday after which police booked four men for attempted murder and molestation. Three of them have been arrested.
On October 5, the woman was dragged out of her house by a neighbour, stripped and beaten up. The video makes for very disturbing viewing. She is seen pleading for her life, while sitting stark naked, as men pull her by the hair and slap her around.
Dhar SP Aditya Pratap Singh said, “As soon as the video reached police, a case was registered against four persons. All of them are related to each other and immediate neighbours of the woman. They were identified from the video and booked under IPC sections 354 (molestation), 307 (attempted murder), 34 (common intention) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt).” Three of them are in custody and police are looking for the fourth, the SP said.
Asked if any action will be taken against the person who took the video and made it viral, he said, “Investigation is on to find all those who were involved in filming the video. They will be booked under IT Act and for outraging the modesty of a woman.”
Police have spoken with the survivor, the three accused and other villagers. It appears relatives of the accused were falling ill too frequently, and they blamed the woman for casting “an evil eye on them”, Manawar police station in-charge Brijesh Malviya told TOI. They decided to teach her a lesson, he added.
This is the second such incident in Dhar district. On September 21, a man and two female friends were beaten and forced to dance while wearing tyres around their necks.
SP Singh said, “Police have taken action as soon as they got information of such crimes. The accused have been arrested.”
