Gujarat: 17-year-old girl flogged in public for eloping; three booked

The video of the incident surfaced on social media Wednesday, after which the police identified the accused and booked them. No arrests have been made so far.

The Gujarat Police have booked three people after a video of public flogging of a 17-year-old girl in a village in Chhota Udepur district went viral.

According to the police, the relatives of the girl flogged her with sticks on May 21 for allegedly eloping with a man. The video surfaced on social media Wednesday morning, after which the police identified the accused and booked them. No arrests have been made so far.

Confirming the authenticity of the video, Chhota Udepur Superintendent of Police MS Bhabhor said, “The video is of an incident that occurred a few days ago where a 17-year-old girl was publicly flogged by her relatives for eloping with a man of the same village. The older man seen in the video has been identified as the girl’s uncle. We are currently lodging an FIR against three who were seen assaulting the minor in the video while the roles of rest of the people are being probed. Currently, sections of rioting are going to be imposed on them.”

The video shows a group of three men flogging, assaulting and stripping the victim while hurling abuses at her as several onlookers watch the incident.

Speaking to The Indian Express, another police officer said, “After the video came up, we identified the victim and asked her to file a complaint which she did. The FIR is being lodged and no arrests have been made yet.”