‘Five shoe strikes’ for trying to rape 60-yr-old

Infamous for their bizarre diktats, a Uttar Pradesh panchayat let off a man, who had purportedly tried to rape a 60-year-old woman at a village in Mathura district.

According to the reports, the man, who hailed from the same village, barged into the victim's house on Saturday night in an inebriated state and tried to outrage her modesty.

He fled after the victim raised an alarm.

The victim's husband convened a panchayat on Sunday to deliberate on the incident and decide on the punishment to the alleged culprit.

The panchayat, after hours of deliberations, decided to punish the offender with "five shoe strikes" and a warning, reports said.

The victim then hit the culprit five times with a shoe on his head in full public view. He was let off after that and the victim and her family were asked not to report the matter to the police.

The matter came to light after a video showing the old woman hitting the culprit with the shoe went viral on the social media on Monday.

On being queried, police officials said that they were examining the authenticity of the video. "We will take action if the incident turns out to be true...so far we have not received any complaint in this regard," said a senior police official in Mathura.

Earlier also, the panchayats in Uttar Pradesh, especially in the 'Jat' belt in the western region, had let off á rape accused with minimal punishment.