Five people allegedly thrashed a 40-year-old Dalit woman, chopped her hair and then paraded her half-naked through an Uttar Pradesh village alleging that her husband was involved in a theft, police said on Thursday.
"The incident took place on Wednesday in Sirsia village of Kushinagar district where a group of locals ill-treated Barfi Devi alleging that her husband was involved in a theft," police Inspector Om Prakash Chauhan said.
"A group of five villagers first tied Devi to a cot and beat her black and blue. Later, the villagers cut her hair and forced her to parade half-naked in different localities of the village," Chauhan said. Kushinagar is about 300 km from state capital Lucknow.
A case has been registered against the five villagers, he added.
"While we arrested two men involved in the incident, the other three are absconding," said Chauhan.