Couple thrashed for intercaste marriage in MP, 10 family members arrested: Police

Madhya Pradesh police arrested 10 family members for abducting and thrashing a couple over intercaste marriage in Betul. Couple rescued and stable in hospital.

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh police said on Wednesday that they arrested 10 members of a family for allegedly abducting and thrashing a couple over an intercaste marriage in Betul.

(Representative Photo)

Police said that the family members of the woman abducted her and her husband and brutally thrashed them. The incident took place on Tuesday night.

The woman identified as Ashika Pawar belongs to the Other Backward Class community, while her husband Shivam Barde from the Scheduled Caste community, said police.

Kotwali town inspector Devkaran Dehariya said that their neighbour Sandeep Barde saw them at the time of the incident and tried to save them, however, he too was thrashed, following which he reached Kotwali police to register a complaint.

Based on the complaint, police swung into action and began searching for the couple and arrested two persons initially.

The duo were rescued from a farm and were taken to a hospital for treatment, where their condition is stated to be stable, said police.

Sheshrao Pawar – the father and the main accused, maternal uncle Akhilesh Pawar and eight others were arrested for abduction, voluntarily causing hurt and trespassing, said Kotwali town inspector Devkaran Dehariya.

Sharing the ordeal, Barde said that they wanted to set them on fire and were planning to hang them. “We got married on February 8 in an Arya Samaj temple. On Tuesday night, my wife’s father Sheshrao Pawar, along with others, abducted us from our house. They took us to a farm and thrashed us,” Barde said.

He claimed that the woman’s father spared their lives after she would register a kidnapping and false rape case against him.

After a complaint was registered by the couple, 10 people were arrested. The accused have been booked under section 365 (abduction), 294 (use obscene language), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 452 (trespassing) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC and under the relevant section of SC/ST (prevention of atrocities) Act, police said.

(with inputs from Mayank Bhargava from Betul)