Gujarat: Tribal Woman Paraded Naked, Assaulted By Villagers Alleging Affair

The video of a tribal woman paraded naked in Gujarat's Dahod district had reportedly gone viral earlier this month. After her husband suspected her of having an extramarital affair, the 23-year-old woman was allegedly stripped and shamed by him and other villagers.

As per reports, the viral video led to an FIR being filed in the case on Tuesday. The survivor's husband and 18 other accused have been arrested, PTI says.

"On July 6, she was traumatised in full public view as a punishment. We have arrested all the accused seen in the video," a police official said.

The woman was brutally thrashed, dragged and also tied to a tree, an Indian Express report says. Though some women from the village tried to offer the survivor clothes while she was being shamed, the accused prevented them from doing so. The husband allegedly also rode on her shoulders as punishment.

Tribal Woman Paraded Naked In Viral Video; Other Similar Cases

Reportedly, the married couple had been facing marital troubles which led the woman to confide in another man she had befriended from a village nearby. Earlier this month, after an argument with her husband, she visited her friend, outraging villagers and her husband. She was reportedly thus brought back and assaulted.

In the video, the group of people can be seen swinging the woman by the tree and beating her. They attempt to strip her clothes and assault her with sticks.

"They said they were teaching her a lesson for having entered into a relationship with a man while being married," the police official added. The accused have been arrested under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and also the Information Technology Act for allegedly sharing the assault video online.

A closely similar assault incident was reported from West Bengal earlier this year in June when a tribal woman was walked naked and shamed in the village for an alleged extramarital affair. As happened in the Gujarat case, the Bengal tribal woman's case too came to light when a disturbing video of the incident went viral. 11 persons were accused of violence and six were arrested, as per latest reports.

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