According to the police, the woman was allegedly paraded by her neighbours, who belong to an influential family.
“They forcibly took me to their house and thrashed me. Then they tore my clothes and forced me to go round the village,” the victim told reporters.
The neighbours were angry as the victim's brother-in-law Gagandeep Singh was having an affair with a girl from the family.
The accused also assaulted Gagandeep who has fled the village following the attack.
“We have arrested Baldev Singh (father of the girl who was having an affair with Gagandeep) and his interrogation is on. His son is still at large,” Rajesh Kakkar, investigating officer of the case, told IANS.
“The victim had named two people in the FIR (first information report) but there are others also involved in the crime. We hope to ascertain their names during questioning of the accused,” he said.
The victim's husband and father-in-law work in Bathinda and she was staying in the village with her mother-in-law.
However, the victim alleged that the police refused to register a case and told her to reach a compromise with the accused family.
Batala town is in Gurdaspur district, around 275 km from the state capital Chandigarh.
Published 16 August 2010, 12:14 IST