By IANS,
Lucknow : A village Panchayat in Uttar Pradesh delivered a strange punishment to a rapist. He was slapped six times with shoes, the last hit being struck by the victim.
The bizarre ‘justice’ was delivered in Sohjani village of Muzaffarnagar district, where the attacker, Chhote, was beaten six times with shoes and later forced to leave the village by the Panchayat, locals said.
Chhote raped a married woman June 12, when she was alone in her house in the Jalalabad locality of the village. After the police allegedly turned her away when she sought to register a criminal case, she took the matter up with members of the community Panchayat.
“Soon after passing the order, the five members of the Panchyat hit the rapist with shoes one by one. Later, they offered the shoes to the victim, who then hit the rapist on his face,” a local told IANS over the telephone from Muzaffarnagar.
When contacted, superintendent of police Raju Babu Singh said: “The matter has been brought to my attention by some journalists. We have started an inquiry into the case. After the completion of the inquiry, we will take necessary action.”
Muzaffarnagar is about 350 km from Lucknow.