A video of a woman in Assam being stripped, attacked and had chilli powder stuffed in her private parts by a group of people has gone viral on social media platforms. The woman, according to a report by PTI, was punished by a mob in an apparent incident of moral policing because she sold illegal brew to earn the livelihood for her family.
The cops registered a case on Friday, only after the video went on viral. They arrested 19 people ob Sunday. Among her attackers were also women.
“The incident took place on September 10 in a very remote tribal area under Nagra outpost along the Assam-Mizoram border. We came to know of it only after the video was circulated and registered a case today,” Assam’s Karimganj superintendent of police Gaurav Upadhyay told PTI.
The victim did not approach the police but filed a case in the court of the Karimganj chief judicial magistrate yesterday after seeing the video. After registering the case in the afternoon, a police party visited the village and initiated a probe into the incident.
“We are continuing our raids and more arrests are expected to be made soon. We are investigating into what led to the attack. The villagers said they had been warning the woman not to sell illegal brew. They also accused her of encouraging immoral activities,” Upadhyay was quoted by The Hindu.
The woman has not identified anyone as her attacker. “The group of villagers, who attacked her, included women. She was also stripped … We have started our investigation and we will take action as per law,” Upadhyay added.
The police will also book under the IT Act those who made video recording of the incident and circulated it in the social media, he said.
The Assam woman, the SP said, used to allegedly sell illegal liquor and was involved in some anti-social activities.
“The villagers had warned her. Even the police had warned her earlier … As to what led to this attack, we will be able to tell properly only after investigation,” he said.