MP: Woman Allegedly Stripped, Paraded During Holi Celebrations; 4 Arrested

On the day of Holi, a village in Indore witnessed an act of barbarity that shook the conscience of many as a woman in Gautampura village was allegedly beaten, stripped naked, and paraded through a village by four women. The video of violent acts shot by villagers and bystanders has now surfaced on the internet. 

Four women in the village allegedly dragged the Dalit victim out of her house on Monday during Holi celebrations physically assaulting the woman, stripping her, and parading her half-clad publicily at a common place in front of the villagers. The victim in the video can be heard begging for mercy. 

MP: Dalit Woman Stripped Paraded By 4 Women During Holi Celebrations

According to the reports, this act of fueled by personal disputes as one of the accused women suspected the victim to be instigating her mother-in-law against her and even secretively took the mother-in-law to Mandsaur without informing their family which was causing stress in their family dynamics caused by the victim. 

On Monday, the accused women forcibly entered the victim's house in Bachhora village, Gautampura police station area. They then subjected her to a horrific ordeal - beating her up and publicly humiliating her by tearing off her clothes. Eye witnesses reported the victim's pleas for mercy went unheard. The accused even paraded the woman in a naked state on the village's common road.

Following the incident, a video of the assault surfaced on social media, prompting police to take swift action. All four accused women were from the SC community and were apprehended on Wednesday. While police also informed the victim is suffering from some mental distress and trauma caused by the incident and hence has gone to stay at her parents' home for a while. 

This incident, fueled by a personal dispute, lays bare the festering wound of violence against women, in this case shockingly by other women. The act itself is horrific. Public humiliation, a weapon often aimed at women takes on a monstrous form on human dignity and the act of apathy by women themselves is disturbing. 

The reported inaction of bystanders who filmed the assault instead of intervening adds another layer of shame. Is our empathy so eroded that we prioritize viral content over basic human compassion? The bystanders who filmed the assault represent a chilling apathy. We must cultivate a sense of collective responsibility, where intervening against injustice becomes the norm, not the exception.