8 arrested for thrashing Muslim man, Hindu woman over illicit affair' in Assam

Guwahati: In what may be called another case of moral policing, the Assam Police on Monday arrested eight people for assaulting and confining a Muslim man and a Hindu woman accusing them of having an illicit relationship in central Assam’s Nagaon district.

Assam police, in an official statement, said that villagers of Jumurmur assaulted local resident Devi Barua and Ubed Ullah of nearby Tubuki village and confined them in a structure near the woman’s house. The villagers, claiming that the two were in an illicit relationship, assaulted them about 9:30 pm on Saturday.

The Nagaon district superintendent of police said, “The police from Kathiatoli outpost rushed to the village and rescued the victims after receiving information at about 3:50 am on Sunday. The two were taken to the hospital for treatment. The woman was released, but the man is still under observation though his condition was stable.”

The critically injured couple, their clothes soaked in blood, was taken to the Bhogeswari Phukanani Civil Hospital by the cops where they were treated.

Also Read: Couple beaten up night-long, woman's head shaved for 'illicit affair' in Assam

Narrating the incident, a police officer said that as soon as the man from the neighbouring Tubuki village came to see the woman at her home in Jhumurmur village, villagers, including women, gathered outside. They alleged that both of them were married and were cheating on their spouses. They called it an "illicit relationship" and started hitting them.

The man tried to get away but he was caught by the villagers, tied up and beaten. Later, the villagers thrashed the two of them, he added.

“The woman's head was also shaved by the women who were part of the mob. Their clothes were torn and they were tortured through the night. The villagers informed the police only in the morning," the officer said.

It is significant to note that this was the third incident of moral policing in Assam since April 8 when a Garo tribal woman was assaulted and humiliated for riding pillion on a Muslim man’s motorcycle at Paikan in western Assam’s Goalpara district bordering Meghalaya.

The police had arrested 12 people for assaulting the duo.

On June 17, a similar incident was reported from Goalpara district’s Rangjuli area where, in an incident of moral policing, a married Muslim man and a Muslim woman, who was a divorcee, were thrashed by the crowd forcing them to get married two days later. Police, however, arrested six people on charges of trying them in a self-style-court and assaulting them in public.

In Nagaon incident, police said that they have registered a case, conducted multiple raids and caught eight people associated with the assault and confinement.

They were arrested after interrogation yielded evidence of their involvement in the crime, police added.