BELAGAVI: Just over two weeks after a woman was shockingly stripped, tied to a pole and assaulted at Vantamuri, near Belagavi, another woman allegedly suffered a similar order at Tigadi village, near Belagavi.
In the fresh incident that occurred on November 22, the woman was allegedly stripped semi-naked and assaulted by a group of people in public over a property dispute. The woman and the accused had agreed at the Bailhongal police station against filing a complaint on November 22.
The victim, however, went ahead and filed a complaint with the Belagavi women’s police station on December 30 against 20 people, including the president and vice-president of the local Gram Panchayat. She claimed in the complaint that her clothes were torn in public and she was beaten up by the group on November 22. The woman also stated that the group took away Rs 1.5 lakh kept in her bag.
Many villagers from Tigadi, however, denied her allegations and said she filed the complaint only to get money from the people to whom her family members had sold a piece of land in Tigadi.
Land row leads to attack on woman
In the FIR registered by the Belagavi Woman’s police station, the woman said her father-in-law owned a large piece of land in Tigadi and a part of which was sold to some villagers. But the remaining portion has been encroached on by another group of villagers. “Some have constructed houses in the encroached land and registered property details in Gram Panchayat records. A stormwater pipeline was laid in the land without permission, and a suit was filed in the Bailhongal court and Taluk Panchayat. The court ordered in our favour. Since then, a group of people (accused in the case) was disappointed with the verdict,’’ she said.
She stated that water was getting stagnated in her land because of the ongoing pipeline work and she had asked PWD officials to remove the broken pipes. When officials reached the spot on November 22, a verbal clash broke out between her and the accused Gram Panchayat president and others.
As the clash escalated, the accused pulled her and thrashed her, tearing her clothes, the complaint added. When the woman was waiting for a bus at the bus-stand to reach the police station on the same day, the accused again raked up the issue, beat her up and snatched her bag containing Rs 1.5 lakh, she claimed. She stated she was then taken to the Panchayat office and locked inside. She was made to sign empty bond papers. The accused later threatened to kill her if she filed a complaint with the police, she added.
On Wednesday, police officers from the Bailhongal police station visited Tigadi. Many villagers levelled allegations against the woman, denying her claims in the FIR. SP Dr Bhimashankar Guled said he got a call from the DGP’s office on December 28, 2023 after the woman complained to the DGP that some people had stopped her from approaching the police station.
“I contacted the woman and asked her to file a complaint at my office. Now, the complaint has been registered in the woman’s police station and an inquiry has begun. The woman has complained that evidence has been destroyed to weaken the case. We will take measures to restore evidence and take necessary action’’ he said.