A pregnant woman was reportedly brutally beaten up by a forest guard and was forced to perform 20 situps in Mayurbhanj, Odisha, India, on Saturday.

According to the police, the woman was beaten up after she was caught stealing wood from a forest area.

Kavita, the forest guard, came to her house and searched for stolen woods. But when she failed to find any stolen wood, she got angry and started to thrash her mother.

The woman said, “When she couldn’t find any stolen items with us, she got angry and started thrashing my mother. When I objected, she thrashed me too.”

The woman added, “Though I kept pleading to release me as I am pregnant, she beat me black and blue and I ended up with a broken hand.”

Saroj Kumar Panda, a Dudhiani Forest Ranger, said, “A woman forest guard of the Dudhiani range under the Karanjia forest division (identified by the victim as Kavita), had assaulted her and her elderly mother in Barhapanapashi village under Karanjia forest division of Mayurbhanj. The pregnant woman was also forced to do sit-ups.”

After the beating inside the house, the Kavita, the forest guard, brought the woman and her mother to her office and beat them again.

The police said the hand of the pregnant woman was fractured when she went through a medical checkup.

Kavita, the forest guard, has been suspended and is currently under the custody of the police.

Tapas Ranjan Dehuri, a police official from Karanjia, said an official investigation has been launched.