The accused has been suspended and is under police custody, the cops said. (Representational)
A pregnant woman was allegedly forced to do around 20 sit-ups and was then beaten up by a forest guard in Mayurbhanj, Odisha, on Saturday on suspicion of stealing wood from the forest area.
The woman said the forest guard, Kavita, came to her house searching for some stolen woods. "When she couldn't find any stolen items with us, she got angry and started thrashing my mother. When I objected, she thrashed me too."
"Though I kept pleading to release me as I am pregnant, she beat me black and blue and I ended up with a broken hand," she added.
Saroj Kumar Panda, Dudhiani Forest Ranger, said: "A woman forest guard of the Dudhiani range under the Karanjia forest division (identified by the victim as Kavita), had assaulted her and her elderly mother in Barhapanapashi village under Karanjia forest division of Mayurbhanj. The pregnant woman was also forced to do sit-ups."
Later, the forest guard allegedly brought the woman and her mother to her range office and beat them up, the official added.
The pregnant woman's hand was fractured in the incident, the official said.
"The accused has been suspended and is currently under police custody," said Tapas Ranjan Dehuri, police official of Karanjia.