Man, abetted by mob, tonsures wife in Bihar's Bettiah

BETTIAH: In a sordid incident of misogynistic mob vigilantism perpetrated in West Champaran district on Independence Day, a husband — aided and abetted by a crowd — tonsured his wife after tying her to an electric pole. A video of the incident went viral.
“We have registered a case against 11 people after identifying them from the video clip. Four people, including the victim’s husband, Ramayan Choudhary, have been arrested so far,” SP Nitasha Gudiya said on Sunday. The incident took place at the Mallah-dominated hamlet of Bharpatia village under Srinagar police station, 15km from Bettiah.
In her statement recorded at the Mahila Police Station in Bettiah, the victim recounted her suffering tale of domestic violence that finally culminated in mob vigilantism on Saturday. The woman, aged about 30, told SHO Poonam Kumari that her husband would regularly assault her and falsely insinuate her of having an extramarital relationship with his nephew.
On Saturday, when the victim’s father and sister had come to visit her, Ramayan flew into a rage. She said he dragged her out of the house and collected a mob. She was tied to an electric pole and her head was tonsured.
The video clip shows a man putting a blade into a shaving razor before he begins tonsuring her to accompany comments by the mob. A pan of water was also poured and her clothes were dishevelled in the violent attack.
On an alarm raised by the victim’s father and sister, some villagers later intervened to extricate the tormented victim. She was taken to the safe confines of the Srinagar police station. “She was escorted to the Government Medical College by the Mahila PS SHO,” the SP said.
The victim, after recording her statement, wasn’t prepared to go to her paternal home in Motihari. “We consequently put her in the government temporary shelter of the Mahila helpline,” the SP said.