Berhampur: Police on Sunday arrested 16 women at a village in Ganjam district for allegedly stripping and thrashing a teenage girl.
According to police, villagers at Bhikapada near Khallikote held a kangaroo court on Saturday evening to decide a punishment for the girl for having an affair with a youth from the same village.
Following a diktat from the kangaroo court, a group of women dragged the girl out of her house and tied her to a tree. They then severely thrashed the girl after stripping her in public.
Soon after the incident, the victim and her grandmother lodged a complaint at Khallikote police station.
Acting on the complaint, a police team went to the village on Sunday morning and arrested 16 women.
According to police, the teenager had been staying with her grandmother. The girl’s mother had deserted her following the death of her husband.
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