BHOPAL: A tribal woman was stripped and assaulted by her alleged lover and his aides in front of her husband and sister-in-law in full public view in the Jhabua district on Thursday. The accused also succeeded in abducting the woman in the semi-stripped state on a motorcycle and sped away from the spot.
The incident took place in Ruparel village in the Raipuria police station area. A video of the incident showing the semi-nude woman being assaulted by the accused and his aides has also gone viral. In the same video, the accused are also seen assaulting the woman’s husband and sister-in-law when they try to save the victim.
Just after the video went viral, the Jhabua district police superintendent, Arvind Tiwari, formed separate teams to track the abducted woman and nab the accused. “Our teams succeeded in tracking the woman within an hour after the police operation was started. Also, four of the six accused, including the prime accused (the woman’s jilted lover) Mukesh Katara, have been arrested and booked under IPC Sections 147, 148, 149, 323, 294, 506, 364 and 354,” Tiwari told this newspaper.
A primary investigation based on the recording of the woman’s statements and questioning of the arrested accused revealed that the woman had left her house and started living with Mukesh around eight months back. She, however, returned to her husband on Wednesday, leaving Mukesh behind.
Angry over the development, Mukesh with five aides, went to the woman’s village on Thursday and forced their way into the woman’s house. They allegedly stripped and assaulted her, including her husband and sister-in-law.
Both the woman and her jilted lover hail from the same Bhil tribe, which is the dominant tribe in the Jhabua district. This is the third such incident of abuse involving tribal women by people of their own clan in west MP districts in the last month and a half. Similar incidents of assault on women by kin for leaving husbands and living with alleged paramours were recently reported from Dewas and Khargone districts.
Swift police action to rescue the victim
The accused also succeeded in abducting the woman in the semi-stripped state on a motorcycle and sped away from the spot. The incident took place in Ruparel village in the Raipuria police station area. “Our teams succeeded in tracking the woman within an hour after the police operation was started,” Jhabua SP Arvind Tiwari said.