Dahod: A 23-year-old woman was stripped and paraded naked at a village in Dahod district by her husband and other villagers as punishment for eloping with another man earlier this month.
The police lodged an FIR on Tuesday and arrested the woman's husband and 18 others on Thursday after a purported video of the incident went viral on social media.
According to the police, the incident took place in the tribal-dominated area on July 6th stated a PTI report. The police further informed that in the viral video, the woman's husband, along with other men - mostly his relatives, is seen dragging, hitting and stripping his wife in public, in the presence of other women and children, adding that as punishment, the woman was also forced to walk with her husband on her shoulders.
According to the PTI report, some women were seen trying to cover the 23-year-old but the accused can be seen snatching away the clothes brought to cover his wife, an official said.
"The woman had recently eloped with another man. Her husband and other villagers quickly traced them and brought them to the village. On July 6, she was traumatized in full public view as punishment. We have arrested all the accused seen in the video," sub-inspector BM Patel was quoted as saying.
The accused have been arrested on the charges of rioting, assault, criminal intimidation, and insulting the modesty of a woman under the Indian Penal Code and under relevant provisions of the IT Act for shooting and circulating the video of the incident, the official said.