E-Paper
Pratapgarh follow-up: Woman’s husband, 14 others held for torturing, insulting her
15 arrested in Pratapgarh for blackening woman's face & cutting her hair following panchayat diktat. Victim's husband & panchayat rep among arrested.
The Hathigawan police of Pratapgarh district arrested 15 persons on Monday, including a panchayat representative in connection with the incident in which a 40-year-old woman’s face was blackened and her hair cut off following a panchayat diktat.
Those arrested include the woman’s husband and seven women who were involved in torturing her. Hair, rope and two saris of the victim were recovered from the accused, police said.
Those arrested were identified as the woman’s husband Harilal, along with panchayat representative Anuj Kumar Mishra and villagers Rajesh Kumar, Jiyalal, Raju Patel, Bharatlal, Surendra Kumar Patel, Jai Singh Patel and women Dulara Devi, Kusum Devi, Vijay Laxmi, Sumitra Devi, Priti Patel, Shivpati, Uma Patel and Anita Devi.
On Sunday, a woman at Bojhwa village was tied to a tree after she refused to accept the panchayat’s decision to stay away from her paramour. Instead, the woman was adamant on continuing the relationship with the man. The woman’s hair was cut off and her face was blackened by a group of villagers which included women.
The woman’s paramour escaped from the scene after the panchayat issued the diktat and called police for help.
The villagers even attacked the police team when it reached the village under SHO of Hathigawan police station Nandlal Singh. Later, additional force reached the spot to restore order.
The Hathigawan police had registered an FIR against 25 named and equal number of unidentified persons for torturing, insulting the woman while attacking the police team which had gone to rescue the victim.
Police teams carried out raids late in the night in the village and arrested 15 people. The hair of the woman, 2 saris and the rope used for tying her was recovered from the accused, SHO Nandlal Singh said. The arrested persons have been sent to jail while efforts were on to arrest the other accused, he added.
