GULBARGA: In a barbaric incident that raised serious questions about women’s rights, a girl (name withheld) was tonsured for breaking her engagement, despite the groom being already married. According to the police, the girl, aged 18 and a resident of Veerendra Patil Extension, here, was engaged to Vishwanath, a shirastedar in Aland tahsildar office, a few months ago.
The girl had failed in the PUC examinations and was attempting the supplementary exams from home. Vishwanath, however, fell in love with another girl and married her and settled down with her in Humnabad. When the girl’s parents came to know about this, they broke the engagement.
A fortnight ago, Vishwanath’s relatives came to the girl’s house and quarreled with them over the issue.
On January 5, Vishwanath’s brother Vinod, his friend Kashinath and another person came to the girl’s house, drugged and tonsured her. The girl’s father lodged a complaint with M B Nagar Police Station, which led to the arrest of Vinod and Kashinath two days back. The two persons were later released on bail. The girl’s parents were initially reluctant to approach the media over the issue, and did so only on Wednesday.