Woman Publicly Beaten in Madhya Pradesh: One Arrested After Viral Video

After a video of a woman being publicly thrashed by a gang of men in Madhya Pradesh's tribal-dominated Dhar district went viral on social media, one of the culprits was taken into custody by the police, an official said on Saturday.

The Madhya Pradesh government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, came under fire from the Opposition Congress, which claimed that the incident raised grave concerns about women's safety in the state.

In the widely shared video, a woman wearing a saree is being held by four guys while one of them is seen striking her with a wooden stick. In the footage, there is also a gathering of bystanders.

According to police sources, the event happened on June 20 after the woman and a guy allegedly ran away from home.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Manoj Kumar Singh stated that once the police saw the video, they quickly took action and discovered that the crime had taken place in a region within the district's Tanda police station limits.

Singh stated that the primary offender, named as Noor Singh Bhuria, who beat the woman, has been taken into custody after police established a case based on a complaint made by the woman.

He claimed that more investigation was being conducted and that police teams had been assembled to find and apprehend additional accused.

In a post on X on Saturday morning, State Congress chief Jitu Patwari stated, "This incident in Dhar district has raised serious questions on the safety of women under the BJP government." When it comes to crimes against women, Madhya Pradesh tops the list." "Can these sisters from Dhar expect from your government that this incident will be investigated impartially and promptly and they will get justice on priority?" he tagged Chief Minister Mohan Yadav in the question. Patwari tried to find out why harassment of women is more common in Madhya Pradesh.

"Why is your government repeatedly failing to stop crimes against women?" demanded the politician.

Savitri Thakur, Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development, is the Lok Sabha representative for the state of Dhar (ST).