Bihar: Widow thrashed, paraded half-naked in Madhubani

PATNA: A 50-year-old widow was dragged out of her house and thrashed in full public view before paraded half-naked at a village in Madhubani district on Monday. The video of her ordeal went viral on Tuesday, prompting the police to lodge a complaint against 13 people of Pappan village under Andhrathati police station.
She had to bear the brunt of anganwadi sevika Leela Devi and her husband Moti Mahto for lodging a police complaint against them earlier in the day.The widow alleged that they used to abuse and harass her on one pretext or the other.
Getting furious over the widow’s complaint, Leela and Moti, along with their supporters, dragged her to a nearby chowk where she was beaten up black and blue. According to the FIR, the offenders caught her by hair and paraded her in the village with clothes torn. No one came to her help. Later, she was dropped near her house.
The victim told the police that the accused were ‘dabang’ (musclemen) and nobody in the village dared to oppose them.
“Those who defy their diktats have to meet a similar fate like me,” she told the police.
Andhrathati SHO Amrit Lal Barman said her statement was recorded on Tuesday. “The police have got the video of the incident. Efforts are on to nab the culprits, who were absconding,” he told this newspaper over the phone.
The SHO, however, clarified that a counter FIR had also been lodged against the widow and her acquaintance Manohar Jha for assaulting the anganwadi sevika and her husband. He said the widow used to lodge complaints against the Leela at the behest of Jha, which led to an altercation between the two families.
Madhubani SP Satya Prakash couldn’t be contacted for his comments despite repeated attempts.