Natore locals whip woman, man force them to wear garland of shoes

A 35-year-old woman and a man have been whipped and forced to wear a garland of shoes by a group of locals in Natore over what they claimed was "adultery" in Singra upazila of Natore.

During an arbitration yesterday morning (November 3, 2022), village chief and some local influentials sentenced the woman and man to 100 lashes each, and the victims were forced to wear garland of shoes, our Natore correspondent reports quoting Mizanur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Singra Police Station.

They also fined the man (36) Tk 10,000 in the arbitration, the police official said citing the male victim.

The OC said the woman, wife of an expatriate, was rescued and admitted to Singra Upazila Health Complex yesterday afternoon (November 3, 2022).

Meanwhile, the woman filed a case with the police station last night against 14 named people and 30-35 unnamed people for torturing her, he said.

Police are conducting raids to arrest those involved, said the OC.

Quoting the case statement, OC Mizanur said the accused tortured her and the man bringing false allegations. In the case, the woman said the allegation of adultery was false.

Locals caught the man while she was roaming in front of her house on Wednesday night and set up the arbitration this morning (October 3), added the case statement.

Besides, a video of the woman being forced to wear a garland of shoes went virial on social media. It has been seen in the video that the victim is roaming around the village wearing a garland of shoes.

Confirming the incident of torture, Sirajul Majid Mamun, chairman of Dahiya Union Parishad, said, "Such a trial or forcing them to wear a garland of shoes is very sad. Most of the people in the village are involved in the incident," the chairman claimed.

Anwar Hossain, general secretary of Natore District Committee of Bangladesh Human Rights Commission, said human rights have been severely violated in this incident. If the victims -- boys and girls -- commit any crime or anti-social act, there was an opportunity to bring them under the law. Without doing so, they have committed a serious crime by whipping or forcing them to wear a garland of shoes.

The Human Rights Commission will provide all kinds of assistance, including legal aid, to the victims to ensure the punishment of the perpetrators.