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Three Youths Beaten Up In Pune By A Mob Of 40 For Fighting Against Virginity Test For Brides

Shame.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images

In a horrible incident of violence, three members of the "Stop the V ritual" -- a group that has been protesting against the virginity test ritual in the Kanjarbhat community -- were beaten up by a mob of 40 people during a wedding at Pune's Pimpri-Chinchwad area on Sunday.

The incident took place after a wedding on Sunday night that Prashant Ankush Indrekar, who is a part of the of group, attended. The two other people who were beaten up were Saurabh Machhle and Prashant Tamchikar.

A senior officer at the Pimpri Police Station told The Hindu, "A caste tribunal of the Kanjarbhat community assembled after a community marriage on Sunday night, with the tribunal 'elders' decreeing that the bride had to take a virginity test. A number of 'panchayat' members vented their ire against Indrekar and his friends, who were present on the occasion, for their campaign on social media speaking out against such practices."

Indrekar has registered a complaint at the Pimpri Police Station.

"We were thrashed with chairs, kicked and punched," Indrekar told The Times of India.

According to reports Indrekar was present at the panchayat, but did not protest there.

He told The Indian Express, "... They got angry and questioned us and then 30-40 youths, including Sunny Malke, brother of the girl who got married on Sunday, attacked Saurabh Jitendra Machale and Prashant Vijay Tamaichikar. When I intervened, they also started beating me. A person even thrashed us with a leather belt. We condemn this act."

Reports suggest that cases of unlawful rioting, voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation were launched against the accused.

Senior inspector Shridhar Jadhav told The Times of India that two suspects have already been arrested and they identified five others.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.