A dispute with a party colleague over not being invited to an event has led to a district president of the women’s cell of the ruling Janata Dal United in Bihar being thrashed and paraded with slippers around her neck.
The woman was allegedly beaten up so badly by her JDU colleague – a ward councillor – and his supporters that she had to be hospitalised. The ward councillor has been taken into custody and a video of the incident is being widely circulated.
Police officials said a JDU programme had been organised in Bairgania block of Sitamarhi district on Wednesday but Kamini Patel, who is the district president of the women’s cell of the party, was not invited. This led to a lot of discussion on Facebook and some comments were made by Ms Patel and some other people.
On Thursday morning, Ms Patel reached the house of Ward Councillor Sanjay Singh to discuss the issue and a heated argument broke out between them. Ms Patel, officials said, was then surrounded by the ward councillor’s supporters and beaten up. She was then made to wear a garland of slippers, called a thief and paraded on the streets near the ward councillor’s house.
Videos showed Ms Patel with a swollen face, bruises on her body and slippers around her neck. She was taken to a local hospital in an unconscious state and then referred to a healthcare facility in Muzaffarpur.
Superintendent of Police, Sitamarhi, Manoj Kumar Tiwari, said, “We have taken action and Ward Councillor Sanjay Singh has been taken into custody. It appears to be a dispute over some comments made on Facebook.”
