Chandigarh:

Taking note of an incident in which a woman was allegedly attacked and paraded half-naked by her son’s in-laws in Tarn Taran, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday said it was reminiscent of the “chirharan of Draupadi”. The orders of the Kauravas in the Mahabharat.

The 55-year-old woman was beaten and paraded half-naked in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district, allegedly by her son’s in-laws after they eloped and married a woman against her family’s wishes .

Police said the incident took place in a village on March 31, days after the victim’s son eloped with the woman and married her.

Justice Sanjay Vashisth took cognizance of the “barbaric and shameful incident” in Somotu (on his own initiative) through media reports and decided to treat the matter as a public interest litigation.

Justice Vashisth is also the Administrative Magistrate of the Tarn Taran Sessions Division.

The matter was subsequently referred to a division bench of Acting Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia and Justice Lapita Banerji, who issued a notice of motion to the Punjab government.

“I am reminded of the historical events that took place during the Mahabharata era, namely the silence of the Chihara of Draupudi and the Pandavas including Bhishma Pithama at the behest of the Kauravas, This ultimately resulted in the bloodshed of thousands of people.In the Mahabharata War.

Justice Vassis noted: “Centuries later, even today, the common man would not have imagined that the ‘nyay pranali’ (judiciary system) would become a silent bystander to such incidents, which are criminally and openly carried out under the noses of the government. occur.”

“As the Executive Magistrate of the Tarn Taran Sessions Division, I am of the considered opinion that this incident must be judicially cognizable as the High Court cannot be a silent spectator of such an incident with all due respect and humility to a lady Being openly provoked, the police and other relevant authorities showed or acted indifferently and failed to take immediate action despite taking necessary steps,” the judge said.

Police said four people were arrested in connection with the incident.

According to the complaint filed by the victim, she was home alone when her son’s in-laws allegedly beat her and tore off her clothes.

The victim claimed that they paraded her half-naked through the streets of the village.

A video purporting to show the victim marching through the village emerged on social media on Friday.

Kulwinder Kaur Mani, the mother of the victim’s daughter-in-law, her brothers Sharanjit Singh Shanni and Gurcharan Singh and family friend Sunny Singh were arrested in connection with the incident.

According to the complaint, the FIR was filed under sections 354 (assault or use of criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354B (assault or use of criminal force on woman with intent to disrobe), 354D of the Indian Penal Code Registrations were conducted (stalking), 323 (intentional hurt) and 149 (unlawful assembly).

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)