By Shruti Tomar and Anupam Pateriya
Bhopal/Sagar: A pregnant woman, her two children and mother-in-law were abducted, thrashed and tortured for four days in Madhya Pradesh after her husband, also a Dalit, refused to cut a tree at the farm of the accused, police said.
The Dalit family in Chhatarpur district , 350 km from state capital Bhopal. was rescued on Wednesday after a local journalist tipped off the police. The prime suspect, described as a village muscleman, was arrested on Thursday. His two accomplices are on the run.
On Thursday, the woman told reporters that she was also raped by the village muscleman but the police had skipped mentioning this crime in the First Information Report. The three accused, named in the FIR, have been accused of causing hurt, kidnapping, obscenity and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocity) Act.
Sachin Sharma, superintendent of police Chhatarpur, said they will add relevant sections relating to rape in the FIR in view of the woman’s disclosure before the media.
“The woman has injury marks on her body and in her complaint, she informed police about physical torture only. She didn’t inform us about any sexual assault but if she is saying, we will add the section of rape in the FIR,” Sachin Sharma, superintendent of police, Chhatarpur district, said.
Rajnagar police station in-charge Pankaj Sharma said the prime suspect had summoned a 32-year-old labourer, a Dalit, to his farm to cut some trees. But he refused, reportedly on the grounds that he was not feeling well. The labourer was beaten up to punish him but he eventually managed to run away.
“Later, the accused reached the labourer’s house and beat his pregnant wife, two kids and mother. The accused abducted them and tortured them for four days,” Sharma said.
The police officer said a local journalist heard about the incident and informed the police.
“Police rescued them on Wednesday and admitted them to a local hospital from where they have been discharged,” Sharma said.
This story was first appeared on hindustantimes.com