A 21-year-old tribal woman was allegedly stripped naked and paraded in a village in Rajasthan's Pratapgarh district by her husband and in-laws, police said on Friday. The incident took place on Thursday in the district's Nichalkota village of Pahada Gram Panchayat under Dhariyavad police station limits in the district, as per news agency ANI. The incident came to light after a video of it surfaced online.
The victim was married a year ago. It is alleged that she had started living with another man in the village, ANI reported. Director General of Police (DGP) Umesh Mishra said the in-laws of the woman kidnapped her and took her to their village where the incident took place. On the direction of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, DGP Mishra sent ADG (Crime) Dinesh MN to Pratapgarh on Friday night.
"Initial investigation revealed that the in-laws of the victim did the deplorable act. They were annoyed as she had gone somewhere else. So they kidnapped her and took her to their village where the horrific incident took place. All the people involved in this have been identified. Our teams are working to arrest the accused," says DGP Umesh Mishra said, as quoted by PTI.
According to PTI, the video showed a man stripping a woman in front of people and parading her naked in a village of the district. DGP Mishra in Jaipur said that the state government has taken the incident very seriously and has sent ADG Dinesh to Pratapgarh. He said six teams have been formed to arrest the accused and Pratapgarh Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar is camping in the village.
"Today, in Pratapgarh, in the Dhariyawad police station area, the case of a video going viral has come to notice in which a woman has been paraded naked. After the matter came to the notice we took immediate action and formed six teams in the district...An FIR is being lodged by the victim's side. Police will make every effort to arrest the accused soon," Amit Kumar said, as quoted by ANI.
Pratapgarh Police has urged the people to refrain from posting any video pertaining to the incident on social media. "Pratapgarh Police appeals to the general public not to post any such video on social media, it is a matter of respect for a woman and it is not legal, if you come across any such video, delete it immediately," Pratapgarh Police wrote on X.
Gehlot took cognisance of the incident and posted on X, "In Pratapgarh district, a video of a woman being stripped naked by her in-laws has surfaced in a family dispute between Pihar and in-laws. The Director General of Police has been instructed to send ADG Crime on the spot and take strict action in this matter. There is no place for such criminals in a civilized society. These criminals will be put behind bars as soon as possible and punished after being prosecuted in a fast track court."
Deputy Leader of the Opposition in Rajasthan assembly Satish Poonia said that the incident is heartbreaking and it has been added to the series of incidents of harassment and crimes against women in Rajasthan.
"This incident is heartbreaking...I think that this incident of brutality has been added to the series of incidents of harassment and crimes against women in Rajasthan...This is an eye-opening incident for the Rajasthan Govt...We want the criminals to be punished through fast track as soon as possible," Poonia told ANI.
Congress MLA, Dhariyawad Assembly, Pratapgarh, Nagraj Meena said, "I came to know about this incident at around 9 pm. I held a discussion with the District Collector and the District Superintendent of Police...The incident cannot be condemned enough. Such incidents should not happen. Police will take immediate action on this," as quoted by ANI.
Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje alleged that the video of a pregnant woman being stripped in front of people was doing rounds on social media but the administration was not aware of it. The BJP leader also appealed to people to not share the video, saying that the incident has put Rajasthan to shame.