Pune: Three men assaulted by mob for opposing 'virginity tests' of brides; two arrested

Pune: Three men were allegedly beaten up by members of their own community for opposing the practice of determining the virginity of a bride on the wedding night, a police official said on Monday. The police on Monday arrested two persons in this connection, he added. [caption id=“attachment_3475946” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] The three victims from the Kanjarbhat community are part of a WhatsApp group, called ‘Stop the V Ritual’, formed to spread awareness against the practice of determining the virginity of a bride on the wedding night. They were beaten up by around 40 members of their community on Sunday night when they had gone to attend a relative’s wedding in the district’s Pimpri industrial town. Two persons have been arrested on Monday morning, an official at the Pimpri police station said. A case has been registered against the accused under IPC sections pertaining to voluntarily causing hurt, unlawful assembly and rioting, the official said. Pimpri’s senior police inspector Shreedhar Jadhav said they were seeking a legal opinion on whether the accused could be booked under the Maharashtra Protection of People from Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act. One of the victims said that after the wedding ceremony on Sunday night, their community held a caste panchayat. He said they had not gone to the wedding to oppose anyone. But still, around 40 community members, who were angry with them for their campaign on social media against the caste panchayat’s regressive practices, assaulted them and also threatened them against carrying out such activities, the victim said. The brother of one of the victims also alleged that their caste panchayat follows certain unjust practices, including virginity test of brides and seeking money to approve marriages. One of the victims said, “We, with the help of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, had complained to police in the past against such practices of the caste panchayat.” The Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti is an organisation dedicated to fighting superstitions in India. It was founded by late rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in 1989.