Is this 17th century, asks High Court on woman being paraded

Bengaluru, December 14

Expressing anguish, the High Court of Karnataka has termed the incident of a woman being paraded naked in a village in Belagavi district as an “extraordinary case” and said “it will have extraordinary treatment at our hands”.

The woman was allegedly assaulted, paraded naked and tied to an electric pole after her son eloped with a girl who was to get engaged with someone else, in the early hours of December 11.

The HC summoned Belagavi Police Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner of Police to be personally present in the court on December 18 to file an additional report.

The HC also rejected a government report saying it was “falling short”. “This is a shame to all of us. We cannot expect this situation after 75 years of freedom. It is a question for us, are we going into the 21st century or going back to the 17th century?” the High Court observed.