TV
In a shocking instance of mob justice, a young couple from Kanjamajhira village in Rayagada district was subjected to a humiliating punishment for marrying against local societal norms. The incident, captured in a disturbing video that has now gone viral, has triggered widespread outrage.
According to reports, the young man and woman had fallen in love and recently got married. However, the relationship did not go well with villagers since the groom is reportedly related to the bride as her paternal aunt’s son, a union considered taboo by local customs.
As punishment, the couple was tied to a wooden yoke resembling that used by bullocks to plough fields. In a scene eerily reminiscent of Taliban-style punishments, they were made to drag a wooden plough across a field in front of hundreds of villagers, who watched the act unfold without intervention.
The crude apparatus, made of bamboo and wooden logs, was fastened to the couple’s shoulders. Just like oxen, they were yoked together and forced to plough like farming animals.
Following this public shaming, the couple was taken to the village shrine and made to perform purification rituals in an apparent attempt to ‘cleanse’ their perceived sin.
