CHANDIGARH: A woman who was caught on camera thrashing mercilessly her freedom fighter mother-in-law was arrested, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Saturday. A case has been registered and the accused has been arrested, the Chief Minister tweeted.
He tagged a video that depicts inhuman treatment meted out to the elderly fragile woman, a former member of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's Indian National Army (INA), who was lying on a cot in a courtyard.
In the video, the victim identified as Chand Bai is seen sitting on a cot while her daughter-in-law Kanta Devi pushes her forcefully and pulls her hair. A widow, Chand Bai's husband was an Assistant Sub Inspector in the Border Security Force.
"She (accused) could not take care of the old woman and considered her to be a burden. That is why she assaulted her," Narnaul Superintendent of Police Chander Mohan said.
The old woman is a recipient of Rs 30,000 government pension, claimed Rishi Bagree, who posted the video and tagged Khattar.
"This is deplorable and condemnable, such behaviour should not be tolerated in civilised society," Khattar wrote.
The Chief Minister's reaction came when a video clip from Niwaj Nagar village in Narnaul subdivision of Mahendragarh district filmed by the victim's neighbours went viral.
Kanta Devi was arrested on Saturday morning and has been charged with section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the IPC, the SP said.
After recording the statement of the victim, police got her medically examined, a police officer said, adding that further investigations were underway.
In another tweet, Bagree wrote that a teenager girl has shot the video.
Reacting to the horrid incident, Buddhist thinker Zenji Nio tweeted: "If she is a former member of the INA, she deserves to be honoured, not abused!"
"Kindly send me more info about her. I am planning to meet with political leaders in India. I will personally raise this matter with them," he said while tagging Khattar in his post.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)