Woman assaulted, paraded in Jharkhand village with garland of slippers on theft suspicion

Giridih, Sep 2 (PTI) A middle-aged woman was beaten, her hair cut and paraded in a village with a garland of shoes on allegation of jewellery theft in Jharkhand's Giridih district, police said on Tuesday.

Dumri police station officer-in-charge Pranit Patel told PTI that the 36-year-old woman was assaulted by family members of Nageshwar Yadav, who forcibly cut her hair and paraded her with a garland of shoes on allegation of theft of jewellery at Pipradih village in Dumri block on Sunday evening.

"We came to know about the case after a video of the incident went viral on Monday, and we approached the woman who lodged the complaint on Monday evening. We have arrested four of the accused women of the family, while the other accused are absconding. We have started a search and hope to arrest them soon," said Patel.

The officer also said that there has been no proof about the woman's involvement in any theft incident, and there has been no previous cases registered against her in any of the police stations.

"We are questioning four of the accused women identified as Rekha Devi, Horli Devi, Binda Devi and Bhanumati Devi. The woman who was injured in the assault has been admitted to the Referral Hospital in Dumri, where her condition is stable. Based on her complaint, we have lodged an FIR," added Patel.

Based on the statement of the victim woman, the police have registered a case against eight people, including six women and two men, including Nageshwar Yadav, the main accused.

"The victim woman in her statement alleged that Nageshwar Yadav and his family members forcibly dragged her from her house, accusing her of stealing the necklace and other jewellery worn by his wife Rekha Devi and mother Horli Devi. They then started beating her up, demanding that she hand over the stolen jewellery. When she refused, they cut her hair and forced her to wear a garland of slippers and paraded her in the village," the police said. PTI ANB RG