Tribal woman stripped, husband thrashed by four

Mumbai: A 35-year-old tribal woman was allegedly stripped and thrashed along with her husband by four persons after the couple’s goats entered a farm belonging to one of them in Ahmednagar district, police said Wednesday.

No arrests have been made in connection with the incident that took place on September 12 at Bhangaon village, a local police official said. A video of the incident, which has gone viral on social media, shows the woman and her husband, who belong to the tribal Pardhi community, being beaten with sticks by four persons.

The couple and their children were feeding their goats when some of them strayed into the farm of one Jaysing Wagaskar, who hails from the Maratha community, the police official said. An enraged Wagaskar, along with two of his relatives and an associate, caught hold of the family and allegedly stripped the woman in front of her husband and children, the official said. The accused also groped the woman, the official said, quoting the victim's complaint. The incident was recorded on a mobile phone by an unidentified person and uploaded on social media, he added.

Offences were registered on September 14 against the four accused under IPC sections 354 (molestation), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 504 (intentional insult with an intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation), he said. They have also been booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, he added.