In MP village, tribal woman forced to carry husband on shoulders, 13 held

The incident took place in Devigarh village on Friday but its video turned viral on social media on Saturday, alerting officials at the district headquarters.

At least 13 people have been arrested days after they purportedly forced a tribal woman to carry her husband on her shoulders around the village as a punishment for having an alleged extramarital affair, in Jhabua district, 341 km southwest of Bhopal, police said on Sunday.

A case has been registered against a dozen villagers under Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and other IPC sections. (HT FILE PHOTO)

The accused tribals, include the woman’s husband and the village sarpanch’s husband, said additional superintendent of police Vijay Dabar.

They were booked for voluntarily causing hurt, assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and other sections of the Indian Penal Code.

According to police, the incident took place at a village on Friday but the video emerged on social media on Saturday, alerting the officials in the district headquarters.

The accused were arrested within 24 hours.

The victim was punished for allegedly eloping with another man. While she was carrying her husband, the entire village followed and mocked her, pulled her clothes and thrashed her with sticks.