Dalit woman thrashed and killed for not withdrawing sexual harassment case

A 23-year-old student was killed recently after she was dragged by her hair while on her way to college and her head smashed with a stone by a man who was allegedly putting pressure on her to withdraw the sexual harassment complaint against him, police said.

PTI reports that the incident took place around noon when the Dalit student was walking to the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Government Girls College here – around 350 km from Bhopal, according to police officials. The police said the accused, 38-year-old Anil Mishra, got down from his motorcycle and dragged the woman to the roadside by her hair. He allegedly pushed the victim to the ground and smashed her head with a big stone lying nearby, said Kotwali police station in-charge Arvind Jain. Some people rushed to help and overpowered Mishra.

The woman was seriously injured and started bleeding profusely, died on the way to a hospital, Jain said. Mishra, who has been arrested, prima facie committed the crime as the victim refused to withdraw the sexual harassment case against him, said K K Verma, Seoni sub-divisional officer (police). Both are residents of a village in Seoni district, Verma said, adding that further investigation is underway.

Also Read: VJTI professor accused of sexual harassment to be probed by DTE