Belagavi, 4 Feb

A Belagavi court on Wednesday sentenced 12 convicts to five years of rigorous imprisonment along with fines for stripping and assaulting a woman in public at Hosa Vantamuri village of Belagavi taluk.

The verdict was delivered by the Additional 10th District and Sessions Court after charges against the accused were proved under various sections of law. The convicts are Basappa Naik, Raju Naik, Kempanna Naik, Parvati Naik, Yallavva Naik, Lakkappa Naik, Gangavva Naik, Sangeeta Hegganaik, Santosh Naik, Shobha Naik, Lakkavva Naik and Shivappa Vannur.

Emotional scenes were witnessed inside the courtroom as the accused and their family members broke down after the judgment was pronounced.

On 10 December, 2023, a young man from Hosa Vantamuri village eloped with a woman hewas in love with. The news about the affair spread rapidly in the village, triggering outrage among residents.

Later that day, members of the woman’s family and others allegedly attacked the youth’s house, stripped and assaulted his mother and tied her to an electric pole. They later paraded her nude in full public view. No one dared to help her until the local women's police came to her rescue.

Police filed a charge sheet against 13 persons, including a juvenile. After a trial lasting nearly two years, the court found 12 of the accused guilty.