Gujarat: Youth elopes with minor, mom thrashed

VADODARA: A video of a woman being thrashed brutally at Dhaniya Umrav village in Chhota Udepur district surfaced on Thursday. The video, recorded on September 1, was of a woman who was being thrashed by two men and a woman after her son eloped with their minor girl.
Police booked Suresh Rathwa and the mother and brother of the minor girl for assaulting and threatening Kokila Rathwa outside her home. The trio was camping outside Kokila’s home since the morning on September 1. When Kokila’s husband Mahendra questioned them, they got enraged and pulled Kokila out by her hair. The girl’s brother and mother pushed her on the ground and beat her up mercilessly. Suresh too slapped the woman before pushing away the girl’s kin.
A minute later when a profusely bleeding Kokila went inside her home, Suresh and the girl’s brother brought a spade to hit her. Kokila was saved, but Mahendra and his father Bhailal were injured. After villagers started to gather, the trio left from there threatening to kill them if their girl was not found. Kokila, Mahendra and Bhailal were later taken to the health centre in Naswadi. The entire melee was video recorded on the phone by an unknown person who later uploaded it on social media.
After Mahendra lodged a complaint against the trio, the girl’s father too registered a complaint of kidnapping against Mahendra’s son alleging that Harishchandra lured the 16-year-old girl with marriage and took her away on March 17.