Dalit man paraded half-naked with shoe garland in Madhya Pradesh village for 'stalking' woman; 2 held

Mandsaur (MP): A Dalit man's face was blackened and he was paraded with a garland of shoes around his neck for allegedly stalking a woman in a village in Mandsaur district, police said on Wednesday.

A case was registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) after the videos of the incident surfaced and two persons were arrested, a police officer said.

The incident occurred earlier last week in Bhaisodamandi village under the Bhanpura police station limits, said Superintendent of Police Abhishek Anand.

Videos show a half-naked man with his face blackened, wearing only trousers and a shoe garland around his neck, being forced by a group of people to walk in the village lanes.

The assault on the Dalit man stems from an FIR registered on a complaint lodged by a woman on September 29. The man was booked under sections 74 (assault or use of criminal force against women with the intent to outrage their modesty) and 78 (stalking) of the BNS, Anand said.

During questioning, the accused didn't disclose about the assault, Anand said, adding that police contacted him after a video surfaced on Tuesday.

An FIR was registered against Rameshwar Gurjar, Balchand Gurjar and others under the provisions of BNS and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on a complaint lodged by the Dalit man.

Both the accused were rounded up, the police officer said, adding that a notice had been served to the Dalit man in connection with a case registered against him.