Mon 19  December 2022:

Two women and a man were arrested by the Babra police in Gujarat on Tuesday for assaulting and shaving the head of a woman who wished to remarry after the death of her husband.

According to a police statement, the female accused 35-year-old Pudhaben and 25-year-old Sonalben were relatives of the victim. One of them was the victim’s sister-in-law. A video of the alleged assault went viral on social media.

According to an FIR registered Monday night, the 35-year-old woman got married to a man from a village in the neighbouring Jasdan taluka around 15 years ago. The couple had two sons and two daughters. However, around four years ago, the man died in a road accident. Around one-and-a-half years ago, the woman remarried from a village in Jasdan taluka.

Police said she had gone to the home of her former in-laws to hand over the custody of two of her children from the previous marriage. “However, the in-laws took objection to her remarriage, despite having four children from the previous marriage and started beating her up,” said an officer of Amreli police.

In the viral video, two women can be seen holding the victim’s hands after making her hold on to a pillar at the home while a man started beating her with a stick. Police said the incident took place at the home of the sister of the victim’s late husband. The women holding the victim’s hands have been identified as her deceased husband’s sister and a neighbour.

The male assailant, the police said, was the husband of her former sister-in-law. According to the FIR, her former co-sister cut locks from the victim’s hair before her former mother-in-law reached the spot and saved the victim. In the meantime, the news of the assault reached the victim’s father who, in turn, informed the police.

On receiving information, the police reached the spot and took the victim to the hospital where she is being treated for her injuries.

The three persons involved in the assault were arrested by the police and a case was registered.