Woman thrashed, paraded with husband on shoulders in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone

A 45-year-old woman was allegedly thrashed and forced to walk carrying her husband on her shoulders at a village in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone district, and seven persons were arrested in connection with the incident, police said on Wednesday.

This is the second such incident reported from the state in less than a week.

The incident took place in Kaili village under Oon police station limits on June 30, but the matter came to light on Tuesday after a video of it surfaced on social media, sub divisional officer of police (SDOP) Rakesh Mohan Shukla told reporters.

The police had received a phone call about a family dispute in Kaili village on June 30 and a team reached the spot and found that the woman was not ready to go with her husband, but later the villagers intervened and the couple reached a mutual agreement, he said. However, the police on Tuesday found a video, in which the woman, a mother of four married children, was seen carrying her husband on her shoulders.

The police have arrested seven persons, including the victim's husband.

About 20 to 25 persons can be seen in the video and all of them will soon be arrested under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the official said.

The victim had gotten married 25 years ago. Some years after marriage, her husband went to jail for his father's murder and was released after serving the sentence, he said. The victim had started living at a nearby village and travelled to neighbouring Maharashtra to work as a labourer. She shifted to Kaili village about five months ago and had started working on the farm of one of her relatives, the official said. However, the villagers objected to the woman living with her relative and held a panchayat deciding that she should move in with her husband, he said.

The villagers suspected the woman of having an affair with her relative, the official said, adding that the incident occurred when the victim went to her relative's place on June 30 to collect her belongings. In a similar incident on Sunday, a tribal woman, who was suspected of having an extra-marital affair, was thrashed and paraded with her husband on her shoulders at Borpadav village in Dewas district, and nine persons were arrested in the case.