A tribal lover couple was thrashed, striped and then paraded naked in a Madhya Pradesh village over their illicit relationship following a diktat by the local caste council, the police said on Wednesday. The shocking incident took place in the village of Meghlia Khali under Rawti police station in Ratlam district on Monday, but it came to light a day later when a video showing the helpless couple went viral on social media. The police raided the village late on Tuesday night and arrested five people in connection with the incident. “Five people have been arrested while eight other accused are absconding. The held people were on Wednesday produced before the local court which remanded them to judicial custody,” Ratlam district ASP Prashant Choubey said. The said 23-year-old married tribal woman allegedly had an extramarital affair with an adivasi youth, Bahadur Bheel (25). She later eloped with him a couple of weeks ago. Her family caught hold of the couple in the nearby village of Maudi Pada on Monday and later took them to their village.
They were produced before the Dewla tribal council, known in the local parlance as “Bhanjgade”, which issued a diktat to beat them and then parade them naked around the village.
“Members of the mob which paraded the lover couple naked around the village captured it in their cell phone cameras and then uploaded the video in social media late on Tuesday night. Local scribes took the matter to the notice of the police leading to arrest of the five accused”, the police said.
