Moral policing: 8 arrested for beating up couple in Assam

Eight persons were arrested today in Assam's Nagaon district over a suspected case of moral policing wherein a couple was beaten up by villagers for having illicit relations, police said.

It is the third major incident in Assam within this month, where locals took law into their hands and thrashed people on suspicion.

Shankar Brata Raimedhi, Superintendent of Police of Nagaon district, told reporters that the police picked up eight persons from different parts of the district in connection with the case.

He said the police were on the lookout for some more persons whose names had cropped up during interrogation.

"We have taken the incident very seriously and those involved in it will not be spared," Raimedhi said.

The SP appealed to the people to maintain calm and inform the police if they had any grievance against anyone.

He also asked people not to take law into their hands.

Raimedhi said the case was being monitored by senior officers and the situation in the village was under control.

The incident happened on Saturday wherein the couple was beaten up night-long by residents of Jhumurmur village under the jurisdiction of Kampur police station for allegedly having an illicit affair.

The woman's head was reportedly shaved by other women of the village.

The police rescued the critically injured couple on Sunday after being informed about the incident. The victims were later admitted in a hospital.

The villagers alleged that the victims were cheating on their spouses, a police officer said.

A case was registered by the police and multiple raids were conducted, leading to the arrest of the eight persons today.

On June 8, two friends--Nilotpal Das and Abhijeet Nath--had gone to a picnic spot of Kangthilangso waterfalls under Dokmoka police station in Karbi Anglong. While returning, their vehicle was stopped and they were lynched to death on the suspicion of being child lifters.

On June 18, a mob had attacked a couple, who they claimed were unmarried and that it was improper of them to move around together, in Pukhurpur village of Rongjuli area in Goalpara district.