Mangaluru: As many as nine persons have been arrested for allegedly assaulting and stripping a tribal woman in Mangaluru district, Karnataka Police said on Monday.
A video of the incident has gone viral on social media prompting the police to take action.
It was shot when the family members were being thrashed and one of them was disrobed, Dakshin Kannada Superintendent of Police Rishikesh Sonawane said.
The police have booked a case of unlawful assembly, rioting, causing hurt, intentionally hurting and use of force on a woman, the officer said.
Land dispute is said to be the reason behind the incident. The accused were opposing the stay of the victims in a shelter on land granted by the state government under section 94C of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964.
They also opposed the intervention of revenue officers to solve the dispute, he said.
The accused assaulted and stripped the victim and her family members including the mother soon after revenue officials left the scene, Sonawane said.
Worse still, the onlookers including Gram Panchayat members remained mute spectators when the accused assaulted and disrobed the victim, he added.
Those arrested have been identified as Sandeep, Santhosh, Lokayya Gulabi, Kusuma, Lokaiah, Anil, Lalitha and Channakeshava. (UNI)