A man in Madhya Pradesh and two of his female cousins were tied to a tree and beaten up as punishment for eloping with a married woman. The girls were punished for reportedly helping the man. The incident occurred in Dhar district's Arjun colony on May 14.
The locals just stared at the situation unfolding in front of them and made no effort to help the three people, reports The Times of India.
The attackers included Mukesh, the husband of the woman who eloped with the man. Mukesh had earlier filed a missing person complaint with Dhar police station.
On Tuesday, Mukesh called up the lover and asked to meet him so they could come to a compromise. However, things were not what the lover expected when he came to Arjun colony. He was tied up along with his cousins and mercilessly beaten up. The girls were also molested.
While Mukesh was beating the man, he could be heard asking, "who made the girl run away with him?"
Hundreds of people gathered to see what was going on and many even took videos which went viral on social media. The video showed the girls crying and asking for help but no one stepped forward to stop them. Even the man asked them to stop but the attackers, which also included women, beat them with even more aggression.
After the incident was reported, the police charged nine people under the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act as one of the girls was a minor.
"We have arrested five people, including three women, and they have been sent to jail. We hope to arrest the four absconders soon," CSP Sanjay Muwel of Dhar Police was quoted as saying by TOI.
