Gujarat: Teen, 2 others thrashed over affair by girl’s kin in Panchmahal

VADODARA: The family of a minor girl took law in their hands and meted out justice to the girl’s minor teenaged boyfriend and his two relatives after tying the trio to an electricity pole in the early hours on Thursday. Five persons were arrested in connection with the incident in a village in Panchmahal district.
According to the police, the girl called the boy to meet her at Orwada village in Godhra taluka.Only later it came to light that the girl had acted at the behest of her relatives. When the boy reached there with two of his relatives, the accused tied them to the pole and thrashed them.
Dharmendra Khant, a cousin of the teen, who lives in the Sanjivav village in Shehra taluka, filed a complaint with Godhra taluka police station regarding the incident. Khant claimed that his cousin was called at around 1am by his girlfriend from Orwada to meet her.
Since Khant and the teen did not have a vehicle, they contacted Dharmendra’s brother-in-law Bhupendra Patel who took the duo to Orwada. They were stopped by two persons Khatu Baria and Mataji alias Bhagabhai Baria who came on a motorcycle and started abusing the boy and his relatives. They also called three others over the phone to the spot.
The group of five men including Khatu, Mataji, Bhala Baria and Kanu Baria took the three boys to their home and tied them to an electricity pole and started beating them up. They were kept tied till 10am when the sarpanch of the teen’s village along with others reached Orwada and secured their release.
Deputy superintendent of police C C Khatana said that the families reached a compromise and no offence was registered on the day of the incident. A video of the incident went viral on Friday following which the police reached out to the victims and an offence was registered.
Khatana said that all the five accused named in the offence had been arrested. He said that the accused had called the family members of the boy in the morning of the day of the incident. The boy and others were allowed to go after they came and assured he would not pursue the girl. The girl’s family had spotted the duo last week, but the boy managed to run away then.