A resident of Hosa Vantamuri village in Belagavi district in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, she was being punished because her 24-year-old son had eloped with his 18-year-old girlfriend.
Families don’t come forward because it’s a matter of honour and the system does not support the survivors or give them a safe space to report these crimes," says lawyer and rights activist Sukriti Chauhan.
Such cases are dealt with under article 354 of the Indian Penal Code and are punishable by a mere three to seven years in jail - which, Ms Chauhan says, is “grossly inadequate”.
In the Karnataka high court, the justices also noted that the assault in Belagavi was watched by “a crowd of 50-60 villagers”, adding that “only one man tried to intervene and he was also beaten up”.
Highlighting the need for “collective responsibility” to stop such atrocities, the judges cited a case from the 1830s - when India was governed by the British - pointing out that an entire village was made to pay for a crime.
Maumil Mehraj, a research analyst who works with young people on gender equity, says the reason a woman’s body is treated as a battlefield is because it’s connected to her - and by extension her family, caste and community’s - honour.
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