On Video, Woman Tied To Tree, Beaten As People Watch. No One Intervenes

Lucknow: Tied by the hands to a tree, she wails in pain as each blow lands on her body. The worst side of humanity is laid bare in the disturbing video, difficult to watch. And yet more than a hundred people - mostly men - watch on. Some smile, no one flinches or steps in. A show is on.

In western Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district, local reports say, a village panchayat had ordered the beating of the woman earlier this month because she was suspected of having an affair. Her crime and punishment were decided by the panchayat - in one of the countless kangaroo courts that populate India's countryside. This was just 60 km from Delhi, the country's capital.

The video, reportedly shot by one of the villagers, was widely circulated this week. It is a full house as people circle around the scene, watching the woman be beaten up for more than a minute.

It is relentless and ruthless but no one intervenes.

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Her screams turn into whimpers, she flails around in circles, hinged to the tree trunk with the rope that is tied to her hands. But no one intervenes.

The man serving out the punishment - flogging her with what seems like a deflated tube of a bicycle tyre - is her husband.

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By the end of the ordeal, the woman is unconscious.

Three people, including the husband, have been arrested by the police after a complaint was registered on Wednesday.

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"We found out about the incident yesterday. We called the woman, spoke to her and registered a case. We have arrested the husband, the panchayat pradhan (village headman) and his son. We have filed a case against 20-25 unknown people," Pravin Ranjan Singh, a senior police officer, said.