A 27-year-old mother of three was tortured through the first week of June in two different instances — first by publicly rubbing chilli powder on her face and private parts on June 5, then by burning her private parts on June 9.
The horrific incident in Bramaramba Chenchu Colony, Molachinthalapally village of Nagarkurnool came to light almost 10 days later after videos started making rounds on social media.
Four, including the victim’s sister and brother-in-law, were arrested by the Nagarkurnool police after an advocate — Jai Raju, also a member of National Adivasi Council, flagged the issue.
Bandi Venkatesh, Shivamma, the victim’s neighbours; her husband, along with her sister Lakshmamma and brother-in-law Linga Swamy, tortured the woman to ‘punish’ her for allegedly having an affair and leaving her house frequently.
They were arrested by police on June 20 and were remanded on June 21 following a statement by the victim Eshwaramma, a tribal Chenchu.
“After the incident on June 9, Eshwaramma went to her mother’s place, about a kilometre away. The day we got the information, officials immediately went and recorded her statement. She was shifted to the government hospital for treatment. We are suspecting more people could be involved,” Nagarkurnool Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Gaikwad explained.
“Two teams were formed to nab the accused. The case was filed late on June 19. While her husband Edanna was arrested the same day, the four were arrested on June 20. Investigation is underway to identify and nab others involved in the case,” Inspector Mahesh, who is assisting the investigation added.
A case was booked under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 354 (assault or criminal force), 376 (sexual assault), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the SC-ST Act.