A 20-year-old man was paraded naked by a group of men in Bhandardigi village of Durgkondal police station of Kanker district last week for allegedly stealing mahua, a flower used to brew country liquor.

Confirming the incident, Kanker SP Ratanlal Dangi said a group of 10 villagers assaulted Hariram Mandavi claiming he had stolen mahua flowers kept in a store. “He was beaten up so brutally that he fell unconscious. Later, Mandavi was stripped and paraded in the village for hours,” he added. When the victim’s mother tried to intervene and stop the assault, she too was beaten up. No one from the village tried to save the two.

In his statement to the police Mandavi has alleged that he was forced to march through the village, sources said. “The audacity of the people who led the assault can be gauged from the fact that they called in the village drummer to accompany the procession,” a police official added.

Though the incident took place on March 20 the police registered a case only on Tuesday. However, the police said Mandavi himself delayed registration of the case as he had been threatened by the accused. “After he narrated the incident, we acted on his complaint and immediately registered a case,” the SP added.

The SP added that they have arrested nine accused, while one was still absconding. He added that a case under Section 147, 149, 323, and 294 of the IPC has been registered against all accused who have been sent in judicial custody by the Kanker district court.