B.K Singh
A mother of three children was tied to a tree her head was forcibly shaven, face blackened and she was made to wear a garland of shoes.
Assembled men and women also assaulted her.
Falling in love with a man father of four children was the crime for which she had to bear with this sentence granted by a panchayat.
The assembled lot of people in this panchayat clashed with the police when the latter intervened. As a result the police station incharge and two other cops were injured.
The situation could be controlled only after the arrival of reinforcement from several police stations.
Police arrested 15 persons and lodged FIR against 50 others. The incident took place at Chotki Ibrahimpur village under Hathigavan police station in the neighbouring Pratapgarh district.
The victim woman’s husband works and lives in Mumbai. She lives in the village along with her three children.
The villagers accused her of having relationship with another man of the village who has four children. This man’s wife had died two years ago.
Villagers objected to this relationship but with no results.
When her husband came to know of this he reached his village and a panchayat was convened.
But the woman was adamant on living with her lover and even went over to his place.
On Sunday, another panchayat was convened and the woman and her lover were summoned. The woman’s family members were also called to participate in this panchayat.
As the villagers tried to convince the woman and said her act amounts to lowering the honor and prestige of the village, she lost her cool and started talking in a high pitched voice.
Angered by her behaviour, the panchayat pronounced the judgment against her.
Villagers also caught hold of her lover and gave him a sound beating but he managed to free himself and ran to save his life. Seeing all this some persons rushed to aid and rescue him.
The villagers clashed with the police while they were taking the woman to the police station.
Police arrested eight women and seven men from the spot.
According to sources, the panchayat members persuaded the two young sons of the victim woman to speak against their mother.
Sources said, the two children were against their mother’s decision to live with another man. Their maternal grand parents and other members of the family were also against her.
But she had made up her mind to leave her husband.
As per reports the two sons of this woman also joined the group that was cutting her hair and blackening her face..
A forensic team took samples of her hair that were burnt by people along with pieces of broken bangles.