Madhya Pradesh: Viral Video of Woman Thrashed with Stick Sparks Police Action, 7 Arrested

Bhopal: A video showing a woman being assaulted by a man with a stick amid filming of the incident by the bystanders has gone viral on social media prompting the police in Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh to spring to action and arrest seven people in connection with the episode.

In the video clip, the saree-clad woman was seen held by four men while another man was seen beating her with a stick.

Around a dozen people were seen in the video surrounding her to prevent her from escaping.

Shockingly, the onlookers were seen in the video clip filming the incident without bothering to come to her rescue.

The viral video triggered public outcry leading the police in Dhar district to launch a manhunt for the accused.

“We learnt about the video on Friday evening. We investigated it and found that the incident took place in the village of Kodigaon under Tanda police station. We had soon identified the accused in the incident”, Dhar district superintendent of police Manoj Singh said on Saturday.

The accused included the local sarpanch, some villagers and the family members of the victim, police said.

While the sarpanch who was seen in the video beating the woman with a stick was arrested on Friday, the remaining six accused were arrested later in the night, the police officer said.

The incident occurred on June 20.

The arrests were made on the basis of the complaint lodged by the victim, Mr Singh said.

Although police said that the reason for the assault on the woman was being probed, sources said that she had incurred the ire of her family members and fellow villagers for fleeing with a man.