Eight arrested for stripping, beating couple in Rajasthan

Jaipur: Eight people of a village caste council in Rajasthan’s Udaipur district were arrested on Monday, a day after they publicly beat and stripped a married woman and her boyfriend after tying them to a tree over their illicit relationship, police said. The incident took place at Kolar village near Sarada town in Udaipur, some 400 km from Jaipur. “We have lodged a first information report (FIR) against about a dozen identified people. Eight of them were arrested Monday,” said Udaipur’s Superintendent of Police Hari Prasad Sharma. [caption id=“attachment_388410” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The incident took place at Kolar village near Sarada town in Udaipur, some 400 km from Jaipur. Reuters[/caption] Prakash Meena, 25, had an illicit relationship with a married woman in the village. They had eloped about 10 days ago. The villagers located the couple on Saturday evening and held a caste council meeting to decide upon the punishment for their illicit relationship. “In front of the crowd of hundreds of villagers, Prakash and the woman were tied to a tree and stripped. They were then beaten up,” said the officer. A police team rescued the couple almost after four hours. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also ordered an enquiry into the incident. “The Udaipur divisional commissioner has been asked to prepare a report within a week,” a senior administration officer told IANS. IANS