Mob justice in Saharanpur: Villagers thrash couple in panchayat trial

Bijnor: A widely circulated video from Saharanpur has sparked widespread outrage, forcing police to initiate a probe days after the incident in which a "village court" subjected a 25-year-old married man and his 22-year-old girlfriend to public humiliation after the man was caught when he arrived at her house.The incident happened on Jan 19 at a village under Badgaon police station of Saharanpur district, and surfaced recently after video footage went viral on social media.The man was from another village, and instead of involving the police, people from the woman's village convened an impromptu panchayat and paraded the couple like criminals, even as village elders casually smoked hookahs while the young man was mercilessly beaten with sticks and shoes. Female onlookers slapped the woman. The man's desperate pleas for mercy were ignored.The "mob court" also coerced the couple into declaring that they are siblings. The man's ordeal ended when his wife arrived to take him away, after strict warning never to return. While the village tried to bury the matter through intimidation, the video evidence prompted a police investigation into this blatant display of lawlessness.Police on Thursday registered a case against 12 people, three of whom have been identified. Badgaon SHO Ramesh Kumar said, "During investigation, it came to light that the woman and the man belonged to different villages. The man arrived at the woman's village when local residents caught them and thrashed them. Further legal action is underway."