A man in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh has been arrested after his wife was paraded in their village carrying him on her shoulders on the suspicion of infidelity, the police said on Thursday.
The police action came after a video of the incident went viral on Wednesday, in which the woman is seen carrying her husband on her shoulders as a punishment while villagers, carrying sticks, can be seen heckling her.
According to police, the couple returned to their village under Kotwali police station in the district from Gujarat during the Covid-19 lockdown.
In the five-minute-long video, the woman can be seen struggling to walk, and even forcing her husband to get off her shoulders. But the villagers again force her to carry her husband.
“There was a dispute between the husband and wife. The husband questioned her fidelity. When we got the information we talked to the woman and lodged the FIR,” Surendra Singh, Jhabua Kotwali police inspector, said.
Along with the husband, several others, including their relatives, have been booked under sections 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 355 (Assault or criminal force with intent to dishonour person, otherwise than on grave provocation), 147 (rioting), 149 (Every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 294 (Obscene acts and songs) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Earlier in June, a similar incident took place in Jhabua when a woman was forced to carry her husband on her shoulders, for over an hour. The man suspected infidelity on the part of his wife, according to police. The man and three others were arrested in the incident.
