4 persons arrested for assaulting, harassing man, woman

Keonjhar: Four persons, including two women, were arrested for allegedly assaulting and harassing a man and a woman over a suspected illicit relationship in a village under Anandapur police station limits.The accused have been identified as Minati Ho (35), Lambora Ho (35), Mani Purty (20), and Damodara Ho (31), all from the same village. They were arrested on Thursday after a video of the incident went viral on social media.According to sources, the incident took place on Oct 21 around 1 pm, when a 26-year-old man visited a nearby house to buy ‘handia’ (rice beer) from a 22-year-old woman. Suspecting an affair, accused Minati Ho allegedly locked the two inside the house and alerted villagers, who soon gathered and gheraoed the premises.The mob reportedly threw chilli powder at the duo, assaulted and paraded them through the village with garlands of shoes. The incident was recorded by locals and circulated online.The woman lodged a complaint at Anandapur police station the day after. “I had come to buy ‘handia’ and was waiting on the verandah when villagers attacked us. We were terrified and couldn’t resist,” one of the victims said.IIC of Anandapur police station Fanindra Bhusan Nayak confirmed the arrests. “The victims were assaulted and publicly humiliated over suspected relationship. We have arrested four persons,” he said.