Purnia man, woman ‘in affair’ forced to lick spit

PATNA: A village panchayat in Purnia district ordered the thrashing of a man for having an illicit relationship with a married woman and then forced both of them to spit on the ground and lick it as "punishment for their crime".
The November 10 incident at Sirsia panchayat under Barhara Kothi police station in the district came to light when a video capturing in the inhuman punishment went viral on Friday.
Villagers alleged that the brutal act was forced after a panchayat meeting in Baruna village called by the mukhiya’s husband Visho Singh and village sarpanch’s husband Sanjay Mandal. A police complaint was lodged by the man Manish Yadav (30) at Raghuvansh Nagar police outpost on Friday against seven persons, including Singh and Mandal.
The victim, who is a resident of a neighbouring village, said he had gone to a friend’s house to charge his mobile phone on Thursday.
“Suddenly, some locals from the neighborhood came and accused him of having an illicit relation with a woman of the house and held him captive. He and his friend’s wife were beaten and tied up for about five hours,” he alleged in the complaint.
Upon receiving the information, the mukhiya’s husband Visho and sarpanch’s husband Sanjay also reached the spot. A meeting was called and decided on the punishment in which the man and the woman were forced to spit and lick for their alleged misdeed.
The SHO of Barhara police station, Sunil Kumar, told this newspaper on Monday that action against the accused will be taken. “The police got to know about the incident on Friday after the video of the incident went viral on social media. When the police inquired the matter from Manish, then only he narrated the story,” he said.
He added: “He also accused Vishho and Sanjay for allegedly demanding penalty of Rs 51,000 from Manish for his misdeed. However, they left him after he paid Rs 11,000.”
Similar incidents were reported in Nalanda and Supaul districts earlier in 2017 and 2018 respectively. A 54-year-old barber was forced to lick his own spit as a punishment for allegedly trying to enter a sarpanch’s house without his permission in 2017.
In 2018, a couple were forced to do sit-ups and then spit and lick after they eloped and got married against their parents’ wishes in Supaul.