Determined to punish and shame a young couple for marrying outside the norms of local society, a mob in Odisha bound them together with a yoke, similar to oxen, and forced them to plough a field. The horrific act was captured on camera and the clip is now being circulated widely on social media, provoking outrage.
The girl and boy, both belonging to the village of Kanjamajhira, which is in Rayagada district, had fallen in love and got married recently. Some villagers did not agree with their choice of marriage because the man is the son of the woman's paternal aunt. Marriage between them was taboo according to customary practices.
As punishment, a mob tied them to a wooden yoke and made them pull it through the field. The video depicts two men pounding the man and the woman with a stick while they did so.
Also read: 40 people tonsure heads following inter-caste marriage in Odisha
After that public humiliation, the couple was brought to the shrine of the village and compelled to perform purification rites to 'cleanse' their perceived sin.
Superintendent of Police S Swati Kumar mentioned on Friday that a team has gone to the village to conduct an investigation and a case will be lodged soon.
In a similar case in January, 40 members of a Rayagada district family were compelled to shave their heads as part of a 'purification' ritual after a woman married a man belonging to a different caste.
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