MANGALURU: In a horrifying incident, a 35-year-old tribal woman was assaulted and her modesty was outraged by a group of people at a village in Belthangady taluk in Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district.
The incident happened on April 19. A land dispute was said to be the cause behind the incident.
Several cases were registered against the accused who assaulted the woman, her sister and mother. They also allegedly shot videos of her clothes being forcibly removed– all this happened in the presence of more than 30 people, including a GP member.
In a complaint to the Belthangady police, the woman named nine people– Sandeep, 30, Santhosh, 29, Gulabi, 55, Suguna, 30, Kusuma, 38, Lokayya, 55, Anil, 35, Lalitha, 40, and Chenna Keshava, 40 of the same village as accused in the incident. The complainant stated that the accused tore her clothes, made her semi-nude and took videos of the incident.
The complainant and her elder sister were staying in a government land, which was regularised under the 94C. At around 4pm on April 19, a team of officials from the revenue department reached the village for a compromise meeting. However, the accused objected and created ruckus forcing the officials to return. Later, the accused assaulted the complainant, her sister and mother, the complainant stated, adding that they were forced to flee from the place out of fear.
The accused allegedly gave life threat to the complainant and her family. The victim also expressed apprehension that the accused might have made the video viral. Belthangady police are investigating the case.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
