Birbhum district, West Bengal:
Already in shock after being allegedly raped by five men in West Bengal's Birbhum district, a tribal woman is now facing the wrath of her entire village. The villagers have warned her that she will be paraded naked if she doesn't pack up and leave. They have also fined her Rs 12,000 and seized her cows.
"They are telling me to commit suicide, want me to hang myself or to drink poison. They want me to leave this village and for that they had taken my cows. Everyone is threatening me and beating me. Today morning the villagers came and broke the door of the house. They warned me to leave the place or else they will make me walk naked. I am scared and don't know what to do," said the victim.
The victim, a construction worker, was allegedly raped on February 26 while she was returning home after work. Since then, her village has been pressurising her to leave. The administration has now promised her security.
"We had lodged a complaint that she had been beaten and threatened by the villagers. We came here to see the situation as well as we told the villagers that this kind of incident could happen to anybody. We have informed higher authorities so that they can provide security for this woman," said Koyeli Das, Block Divisional Officer, Siuri.m. 2 no. Block.
Villagers, however, are determined the woman should be punished.
"Women who do illegal work are punished by the villagers and the village head. The punishments are of different patterns that might be penalty or maybe she should be thrown out from the village. She has to be punished for her crime. In our society, we punish this kind of woman and she had to be punished for this crime. These are our rules and laws and we always follow them," said Shyam Bera, the village head.
This is not the first time a threat of being paraded naked has been dished out at a woman in the district. In 2010, a tribal girl was subjected to this inhuman humiliation in the Birbhum district on the suspicion that she was in a relationship with a boy from outside her tribe.