Man, woman paraded with a garland of footwear

 Keonjhar:  A 26-year-old man and a 24-year-old married woman were allegedly physically assaulted, forced to wear footwear garlands and paraded on the streets of a village in Keonjhar district on the suspicion of having an extra-marital relationship, police said on Friday. The incident took place in Sadangi village in Anandpur police station area on October 21. A video of the incident went viral on social media. Acting on a complaint, the police arrested four persons, including the woman’s husband and two women. Anandpur police station inspector-in-charge Phanindra Nayak said while returning from work, the man had stopped at the woman’s house to have a glass of ‘handia’ (local alcoholic beverage).

“However, locals saw them alone and suspected them of having an extra-marital relationship. They bolted the door from outside and called her husband, following which they assaulted them and paraded them by forcing them to wear footwear garlands,” he added.

“During investigation, we found the suspicion of the locals to be baseless,” the officer said. The police have arrested four persons, identified as Minti Ho (25), Lambodar Ho (35), Bani Purti (20) and Dandaara Ho (26) and produced them before a court, he added.