Murshidabad: A village sabha in West Bengal’s Murshidabad forced a farmer to cut off her wife’s hair after she was accused of having an extra-marital affair. The punishment was given after the woman and her family failed to pay a ‘penalty’ of Rs 6,000.
The incident took place in Chandpur village. The 32-year-old woman fled from home with another man. Both were caught by the villagers and the kangaroo court asked the woman to pay a fine of Rs 6,000.
As the woman failed to pay the fine, some members of the village sabha barged into her home late on Sunday night, dragged her outside and made the village watch her being punished.
“When the woman’s family members expressed their inability to pay the fine due to their poor financial condition, some members of the sabha forcibly entered her house. They said that they would chop the woman’s hair instead as punishment. When her husband Mizarul Sheikh protested, he was assaulted, threatened and forced to cut off his wife’s head,” a resident was quoted as saying in a news report.
The woman filled a complaint at the Nowda Police Station against seven people. Till now, three people have been arrested by the police for setting up an unofficial court.
