An elderly Dalit couple in Madhya Pradesh's Ashok Nagar district was allegedly beaten and forced to wear garlands of shoes, police reported on Sunday. The attack was purportedly in retaliation for an eve-teasing incident involving the couple's son. According to reports, members of the family of the victim of the eve-teasing incident were suspected to be behind the assault on the elderly couple.
Sub-divisional Police officer Sanam B. Khan told Indian Express, "The couple’s son was involved in a molestation incident a few months ago and a case was registered against him. The woman’s family members were angry over the incident and assaulted the couple. We are investigating the allegations raised by the couple. An FIR has been registered against 10 individuals, and searches are on to apprehend the accused".
The incident occurred on Friday in Kilora village, within the Mungaoli police station jurisdiction. Mungaoli Police Station In-charge Gabbar Singh Gurjar told PTI that the couple had left the village after their son allegedly eve-teased one of the accused's wives. They returned recently, leading to the attack.
On Friday, the accused allegedly tied the 65-year-old man and 60-year-old wife to a pole, beat them, and forced them to wear garlands of shoes. Speaking at the local district hospital, the man recounted, "We had gone out of the village to do labour work. But when we returned to our home, around 10-12 people barged into our house, beat us up tied us with ropes, and took us to their house."
"There they tied us to a pole, first beat us up, and then made us wear a garland of shoes and slippers… Later, the information about the incident was given to the police after which the police came and rescued us from there," he was quoted as saying by Indian Express.
The couple also alleged that the attackers destroyed their crops and vandalised their home. "They destroyed our crops, and broke the lock completely vandalising our belongings," the man claimed.
As per the PTI report, following a complaint by the woman, police registered a case against 10 persons under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including rioting, unlawful assembly, voluntarily causing hurt, obscene acts, and criminal intimidation, as well as provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. All the accused were absconding, and efforts were ongoing to locate them, PTI reported citing officials.
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