Guwahati, June 23: In another instance of moral policing in Assam, an unmarried couple in Goalpara district, travelling on a bike, was intercepted by locals, beaten up and then forced to marry.
The incident, police claims, occurred on June 17 in Kheropara village, located 95 km west of Guwahati. Although no FIR was registered by the victims or their kin, the matter was taken up suo moto after the video of assault went viral, said Assam Director General of Police Kuladhar Saikia.
While the identity of the couple has not been revealed, reports said the man was married and the woman was a divorcee. The duo have reportedly left for Hyderabad on June 19, a day after their marriage was solemnised by a local cleric.
Rangjuli police, which is currently prorbing the case, has arrested two locals involved in the assault so far. One of them has been identified as Kurban Ali.
Ali is charged of organising the village court after assaulting the couple. The court ordered them to get married.
The incident of mob justice comes days after two youths were lynched to death by locals in Karbi Anglong region on rumours of them being child-abductors.
Earlier, on April 8, a Garo woman in Paikan, about 30 km from Rongjuli, was brutally punched, kicked and beaten up with bamboo for riding pillion to a Muslim friend.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 23, 2018 09:10 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).