A woman from the Jharkhand state’s Dengodih village told some village women that her 22-year-old nephew was making advances towards her.
In response to her accusations, an all-women meeting (panchayat) was summoned on 21 August where her claims against the nephew were rubbished.
The all-women meeting ruled that it was the woman who was to blame for having an illicit affair with her nephew in her husband’s absence. As a measure of punishment, the panchayat had subsequently ordered to strip the woman and have her hair chopped off, she claims.
On 25 August, the woman filed a police complaint against the panchayat, alleging she was forcefully dragged out of her house and brought before the self-governing body to punish her. She also accused her nephew of “taking advantage of her” when her husband was away from home.
Police have opened a case against some villagers in the matter. “A total of 11 accused have been identified in this case, and a complaint has been filed against them. No arrests were made so far, but an investigation is underway,” Senior Police Official M. Tamil Vanjan of Koderma District, was quoted as saying by the ANI news agency.
