In a brutal act in Warangal, a 20-year-old pregnant woman was stripped, assaulted and paraded naked on the by the relatives of her husband’s first wife in DC Thanda of Wardhannapet on Monday. They beat her brutally and even burnt her private parts with a burning piece of wood. The villagers and the Police came to rescue her who had burned marks and admitted her in the Local hospital.

The police booked cases against nine people, including her husband and his first wife, Swaroopa. According to Wardhannapet CI Santhosh, the victim Angothu Thourya aka Anitha (18), had eloped with Banothu Ravi (35) who is an auto-rickshaw driver in March 2015 and married him. The husband was already married to Swaroopa of the same village for five years and they also had two children.

After coming to know about his second marriage, Swaroopa fought with him. Since then the husband rarely visited her or cared about the children. He used to mistreat Swaroopa and his in-laws whenever they questioned him. Swaroopa sought justice from the village heads and the panchayat had been looking into the issue. The ‘panchayat’ had ‘ordered’ Ravi to deposit `7.50 lakh in the name of Swaroopa as maintenance.

The husband had said that he would divorce Swaroopa and pay her `7.5 lakh, which he said he wished to give to his children. When he arrived to attend the panchayat, Swaroopa and her husband exchanged words. The victim too joined in and soon a serious fight ensued between the two women. As the husband tried to stop them, Swaroopa’s relatives started beating him.

Swaroopa and her relatives then went on to assault the victim mercilessly even as she pleaded them to let her go. She was stripped naked and dragged on the streets. However, Ravi had managed to call the police who arrived at the village and rescue him and his wife Anitha. Cases have been booked against nine people and the police have taken Swaroopa and Ravi into custody along with four others. Three others are absconding.