The police in Bihar have arrested three people in a village in Vaishali district after a 48-year-old woman and her newly wed 19-year-old daughter were beaten, paraded and had their heads shaved on Wednesday, the Hindustan Times reported on Friday.
The accused were arrested on Thursday after a video of the incident started doing the rounds on social media. According to unidentified officials, ward Councillor Mohammad Khurshid and his supporters were involved in the incident. Station House Officer Sanjay Kumar of the Bhagwanpur police station said the matter was being investigated.
“Around 6.30 pm, half a dozen armed men forcibly entered my house and attempted to rape me,” the 19-year-old woman told the police. “When my mother tried to save me, they started beating us.” The accused allegedly beat the women with wooden sticks, dragged them outside their home, and held a panchayat.
Khurshid allegedly called a barber and asked him to shave the heads of both the mother and the daughter. They were then paraded around the village.
The women accused Khurshid of harassing the 19-year-old over the last several months, The Times of India reported.
On Thursday, Vaishali Superintendent of Police Manavjeet Singh Dhillon said seven people have been named in the first information report. Some of them are absconding.
The state women’s commission has taken suo motu cognisance of the incident, and asked for a detailed report from the police headquarters. “Further action will be taken on the basis of the inquiry report,” said the commission’s Chairperson Dilmani Mishra.
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