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Woman beaten to death by husband, villagers in Assam over extra-marital affair
The 35-year-old woman sustained several injuries, but instead of taking her to a hospital the family members and other villagers kept her inside the house after which she succumbed to her injuries.
A 35-year-old mother of two was beaten to death by her husband and few fellow villagers in Assam over suspicion that she was having an extra-marital affair, police have said.
The incident took place in Paschim Hartala, a remote village close to the India-Bhutan border in Baksa district, earlier this week. But the police came to know about it only on Wednesday.
The victim Sona Murmu, who belongs to the backward Adivasi community, was allegedly found by her husband Debilal Hasda in a compromising position with another villager Rinku Hasda on Monday night.
“While Rinku escaped from the scene, Debilal started beating his wife with a bamboo stick in order to teach her a lesson. Soon, some other neighbours also joined in the assault,” Nayanmoni Das, in-charge of Darangamukh police outpost, told the Hindustan Times.
Sona sustained several injuries, but instead of taking her to a hospital the family members and other villagers kept her inside the house. She succumbed to her injuries on Tuesday.
Police came to know about the incident after a village elder informed them on Wednesday while the villagers were planning to conduct Sona’s final rites in a hushed manner.
They took possession of the body and sent it for a post-mortem, which concluded that the victim died due to bleeding from internal injuries as a result of severe beating.
Sona’s husband, a fellow villager, a distant relative and Rinku were arrested by the police on Thursday. The first three have been booked for murder and Rinku was named as an abettor.
All the four were produced before a court on Thursday and have been sent to judicial custody for two weeks.
“Such cases happen in remote areas due to acute poverty, illiteracy and absence of development. People are unwilling to reach out to the police and settle cases through illegal means,” said Das.
There was an unsubstantiated report of the village council imposing a fine of Rs 200 on the victim’s husband and Rs 100 on Rinku, who happens to be the headman’s son, to make them atone for their crime.
But the police denied any such thing had happened.
