http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/105558/India/panchayat-strips-and-thrashes-dalit-women-in-bihar.html
Panchayat strips and thrashes Dalit women in Bihar
Mail Today Bureau
Patna, July 16, 2010
A dalit woman and her mother were stripped and assaulted at the diktat
of a village panchayat in Bihar recently.
The shameful incident took place in Yogidih village under
Chandramandih police station of Jamui district.
The police said 30-year-old Phulwanti Devi and her mother Sakuna Devi
were disrobed in front of the village for disobeying panchayat
members.
The officer in-charge of the police station, Sakaldeo Yadav, said
Phulwanti feared for her life and had lodged an FIR against 15
villagers. Subsequently, four persons were arrested, including the
village sarpanch Dhanraj Thakur.
"The village sarpanch and others accused Phulwanti of being of loose
character after there was a rumour about her relationship with Budhan
Yadav from an adjoining village a month and a half ago," said Yadav.
In her FIR, Phulwanti stated Thakur and the others summoned Budhan to
the panchayat even though she hadn't lodged any complaint against him.
She claimed the panchayat members wanted her to press rape charges
against Budhan, but she refused.
The panchayat also allegedly tried to mint money after casting
aspersions on Phulwanti's character, the victim alleged.
They imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Budhan.
When his father pleaded with the panchayat that he had no money, the
amount was reduced to Rs 30,000 and then to Rs 11,000.
The police said Budhan's father could manage only Rs 9,000, which he
gave to the panchayat members and asked for more time to arrange the
remaining amount.
The panchayat asked Phulwanti to press molestation charges against Budhan.
Under pressure, the victim was made to say that Budhan had held her hand.
Phulwanti's trauma didn't end here.
She said the panchayat imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 on her and told her
to host a feast for them as punishment. When she refused, she was
beaten up. The police said even the women of the village thrashed her.
Phulwanti's mother-who lives in a nearby hamlet-got to know of her
woes and came to the village to rescue her.
Sakuna begged the panchayat members to spare her daughter. Instead,
the panchayat stripped both of them.
Yadav said the sarpanch also labelled Phulwanti as characterless in a
written order and asked the villagers to boycott her socially. "The
police swung into action after receiving information about the
torture," the officer in-charge of the Chandramandih police station
said.
The panchayat members also tried to chop off the women's hair, but
couldn't do so after some villagers intervened.
"We have arrested the sarpanch and three others. We are also trying to
get a copy of Thakur's order in which he stated Phulwanti was of loose
morals," Yadav added.
The incident comes close on the heels of a case in which a woman was
stripped in the Katihar district.
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