Surendranagar, Oct 7 (IANS): Nine people, including two women, have been arrested in Gujarat’s Surendranagar district after a married woman was allegedly assaulted, illegally confined and gang-raped during a purported “purification” ritual over her relationship with another man, with videos of the incident later circulated on social media, police said.
The case came to light after videos showing the woman being subjected to violence and humiliation surfaced online.
Police said the woman had not initially approached them, but officers acted after receiving information from community members and began searching for her.
Surendranagar SP Premsukh Delu said several police teams were deployed to trace the woman after the videos came to their attention.
The woman was eventually located and brought to the police station, where her statement was recorded, and she was provided protection.
According to the police complaint, the woman had left her husband and gone to live with another man. Her husband and relatives allegedly traced her and brought her to a house, where she was confined using locks and chains.
She subsequently escaped, but the accused allegedly caught her again and tied her to a tree with ropes.
The accused allegedly subjected the woman and the man she had been living with to physical assault and humiliation in the name of carrying out a “shuddhikaran” or purification ritual.
Police said the woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by multiple people, with the ordeal being recorded on a mobile phone. The videos were subsequently circulated on social media.
Police are also investigating the circumstances in which the recordings were made and circulated.
A-Division police Inspector R.M. Sangada said the role of those who recorded and disseminated the videos was also being examined.
The accused have been booked under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including provisions relating to sexual offences, voluntarily causing hurt, wrongful confinement, wrongful concealment or keeping of an abducted person and acts carried out by several people in furtherance of a common intention, besides provisions of the Information Technology Act.
Police have arrested all nine accused, including two women who are alleged to have aided or participated in the offence.
Investigators are also examining the backgrounds and roles of the arrested persons as part of the ongoing probe. Police said further investigation was underway.
