Several men allegedly tied an elderly Dalit couple to a pole, beat them up, and garlanded them with shoes in a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Ashok Nagar district on Friday.

Police stated that the couple’s son had been involved in a sexual harassment case a few months ago. They suspect that angry members of the victim’s family were behind the couple’s assault.

Sub-divisional police officer (Mungaoli) Sanam B Khan told that the couple’s son had been involved in a molestation incident a few months ago, leading to a case being registered against him. Angered by the incident, the woman’s family members assaulted the couple. Khan stated that they are investigating the couple’s allegations. An FIR has been registered against 10 individuals, and searches are underway to apprehend the accused.

What happened to the Dalit couple in Madhya Pradesh

Police reported that after the harassment incident, the couple had left their village, Kilora, under Mungaoli police station limits, and returned only on Friday. Upon their return, the couple alleged, the accused tied the 65-year-old man and his 60-year-old wife to a pole, beat them, and made them wear garlands of shoes.

At the local district hospital, the man told reporters, “We had left the village to do labor work. Upon our return home, around 10-12 people barged in, beat us up, tied us with ropes, and took us to their house.”

The man recounted that they tied him and his wife to a pole, beat them, and then made them wear a garland of shoes and slippers. Later, someone informed the police, who came and rescued them.

The couple also alleged that the accused destroyed the crops they had sown on their 5-6 bigha land. “Additionally, they broke the lock and completely vandalized everything in the house,” the man claimed.

After the woman filed a complaint, police registered a case on Saturday against 10 individuals under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly with common objective), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 294 (obscene act), and 506 (criminal intimidation), as well as provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

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