In a horrific incident caught on cam, a tribal woman in Madhya Pradesh was sexually harassed. Days after the incident, 3 people were held for harassing the woman while 2 others were held for filming the incident and uploading its visuals on social media.
The distressing video shows one of the victims trying to hide behind a vehicle and getting spotted by a man who then assaults her. in the same video, another woman can be seen being assaulted by another accused. The ordeal is as shocking as its heartbreaking with the video showing several bystanders on the road quietly recording the incident on their phones but not coming to the woman’s rescue. The incident was reported from Alirajpur district and occurred on March 11.
The incident came during the celebration of a tribal festival called Bhagoria. The week-long festival was reportedly celebrated in several Madhya Pradesh districts including Jhabua, Dhar, Khargone, etc. It should be noted that another incident regarding violence against tribal woman was reported from Alirajpur in July 2021 where the 19-year-old victim was hung on a tree and brutally beaten up.
Background
While India continues to strive in its pursuit of being a superpower, crimes against marginalized sections of society are still prevalent. This includes crimes against tribal communities, against scheduled caste/scheduled caste community, and more.
In 2020, Madhya Pradesh registered the maximum number of crimes against people from the tribal community. According to a National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, Madhya Pradesh registered as many as 2,401 cases of crimes against Adivasis in 2020, a sharp 25% surge against 2019. Madhya Pradesh also showed the most rapes of tribal women in 2020 across all states.
Another horrifying incident was reported from Madhya Pradesh recently where two women were sexually assaulted in public and were caught on video by bystanders who were mute spectators to the harassment.
The Facts of the Matter
Three accused in connection to sexually harassing tribal women in Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh were arrested by the police on Sunday. Moreover, two other men were arrested for filming the entire ordeal and sharing the same on social media. According to police, not a single person came forward to file a complaint against the accused. However, on the basis of the video that were shared extensively on Twitter, and sparked outrage across netzines, the police took cognizance.
According to reports, the incident took place earlier on Friday, on the first day of the tribal festival called Bhagoriya festival. The incident took place in Alirajpur district, a tribal-dominated district that’s located some 390 km from the state capital Bhopal.
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What Did the Video Show? (Reader’s Discretion Advised)
Watch the video here:
A video of a female being sexually harassed by a bunch of teenagers has gone viral. The video was taken at the #Bhagoria festival, which is one of the important annual festivals in Alirajpur, a tribal-dominated area in MP. A case has been filed by the police.#women #SafetyFirst pic.twitter.com/ABydsM9tro
— Vinay Pande (@jornovinaypande) March 13, 2022
The triggering video showed two young women being sexually assaulted by a group of miscreants in Alirajpur. The video showed one of the victims trying to flee and hide behind a vehicle. The woman is spotted by one of the accused who drags her and assaults her.
Although a passerby tries to pull the man away from the victim, another man can be seen sexually assaulting her by forcing himself on her. The man also brutally shoved her towards a group of other men who were seen trying to grope the victim.
Unfortunately, there were several mute witnesses of the incident who simply chose to record the ordeal instead of intervening and rescuing the victims.
3 Held, 2 Detained
Based on the video gone viral, the police filed an FIR against the accused under Section 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with the intent to outrage her modesty) and Section 34 (a) (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. So far, five people have been held in the matter. While three persons were taken into custody, two others were detained for recording the incident and sharing it on social media.
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