Woman, paramour whipped on khap panchayat order in Gujarat

Vadodara, July 14: A woman and her paramour were allagedly whipped by her husband on the orders of a khap panchayat in Kalediya village at Chhota Udaipur district, following which a case was registered, police said today.

The incident surfaced today after a video of a man and woman being whipped was widely shared on mobile messaging app WhatsApp, district Superintendent of Police, Chhota Udaipur, P C Baranda said.

Lalita, the wife of accused Dinesh Tadvi, had allegedly eloped with her paramour, Soma Tadvi last month to Saurashtra region, but were soon traced, he said. All of them worked as labourers at a construction site.

The duo were produced before the khap panchayat around 20 days back, where the panchayat ordered Soma to pay Rs 2 lakh to Dinesh, failing which he and Lalita would be whipped.

After Soma said he was not in a position to pay such a huge sum, Dinesh started beating his wife and him mercilessly, the senior official said. Soma's father, Gaju Tadvi registered a case with local police today.

Revenue officer of Sanheda taluka Mahesh Joshi said soon after receiving information about the incident, he visited the village. "A team has been formed to trace Dinesh. We hope to nab him soon," the DSP said.

PTI