Teenage girl and man paraded in MP village with garlands of shoes for eloping; 8 held

A 17-year-old girl and a 48-year-old man, who is her relative, were allegedly abused and paraded with garlands of shoes around their necks in a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior district as punishment for ”eloping” by some people, police said on Monday, adding eight persons involved in the crime were arrested.

The alleged incident occurred at Ambajhiri village under the Mohkhed police station area on Saturday, following which a case was registered, a police officer said.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Vivek Agrawal told reporters that the police have taken a serious note of the incident and a case was registered against eight identified persons and others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Juvenile Justice Act. Mohkhed police station in-charge Gopal Dhasle said a group of people (a tribal social panchayat), including villagers, had accused the girl of eloping with the man, who is her maternal uncle in relation. The villagers later abused the girl and the 48-year-old man for the ”immoral” act, he said quoting the FIR. ”The girl and the man were paraded in the village with garlands of shoes around their necks following the diktat of the group,” he said.

A case was registered and all eight accused were arrested, Dhasle added.

Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission (MPHRC) has sought a report about the incident from the Chhindwara SP within three weeks.