An angry mob of vigilantes has tied a man, accused of molesting a woman, to a tree and beaten him, video footage from eastern India shows.
Ruptly reports the incident took place Sunday in Malda district of West Bengal. The neighborhood had been searching for a suspect after the alleged victim, a resident, sounded the alarm.
The video shows other residents looking on as the man sustains several hits with a broomstick from a woman, while another man also delivers a number of blows.
A police officer later untied the man and took him away; the man was reportedly arrested.
Women in India have traditionally faced rampant public sexual harassment by men. The practice, known as ‘Eve-Teasing’, is derived from Eve, the first ‘temptress’, and places the responsibility on the women being harassed. However, since the 2012 gang rape that left a young woman dead, Indian society - and particularly female - vigilantism has been on the rise.
Vigilantism is also not unknown in Malda. According to NDTV, just on Sunday a doctor was severely beaten after he referred a woman in labor to another hospital and her baby died on the way there immediately after birth.