Gujarat: Woman lashed for talking to rival family in Dahod

VADODARA: Merely speaking to members from a rival family resulted in the brutal public lashing of a woman in a village of Dahod district.
The video of the brutality that went viral on social media on Monday, forcing police to swing into action. Late in the night, police arrested four persons for the incident that took place in Sagdapada village of Fatehpura taluka in the tribal-dominated district.
The woman was beaten up in the front of her house on the roadside and dragged across the road. On Monday night itself, the police identified the woman and contacted her.
It came to light that the woman, Maki Makhla Valvai, was beaten up as she used to speak to women from a rival family. She has registered an offence against her relatives in this regard.
The woman has stated that she was alone at home and having dinner when a relative Dita Valvai and Pankaj Valvai came to her home with sticks. They were accompanied by two other men Par Valvai and Raman Valvai. All the men were related to her husband Makhla, but were not his immediate relatives.
The assailants kicked Maki and beat her up with sticks. They then dragged her across the road and threw her in front of the houses of the Bhabhor family with whom the Valvai family has a property dispute. The four accused were peeved that Maki used to interact with some members of the Bhabhor family despite the dispute.
The Bhabhors objected to this, but Maki’s relatives did not listen to them. Maki was taken home and then to a hospital and then the police station by her son Suresh Valvai.
Dahod superintendent of police (SP) Hitesh Joysar said that the accused were held on Monday night itself. “The woman does not have serious injuries. An awareness drive against such incidents is already underway and will be intensified,” he said.