Whipped for ‘being in love’, West Bengal woman says: ‘Let me now live my life the way I want’ | Long Reads News

The woman spoke to The Indian Express from her home in Uttar Dinajpur, where she is in isolation. Several policemen stand guard outside. The woman, who is married with two children, said she fell in love with another man five years ago.

At first they met in secret, she says. When her husband finally found out, he asked her to leave the house and on June 27, she says, she moved in with the other man, who is 35 and also married.

For many in the village, she said, this was unacceptable. On June 28, a “salishi sabha” or mock court was convened, where the main accused, Tajimul Islam alias JCB of TMC, appeared. Dressed in a black T-shirt and carrying a gun that seemed tailor-made for public justice, it was Islam who led the attack, she said. Surrounded by a crowd of dozens, the man and woman were relentlessly flogged as they writhed on the ground in pain and begged for mercy. The incident took place a stone’s throw away from the woman’s house.

The woman said she feared such “punishment and attack,” but she was not prepared for the video to go viral. “What happened here would have stayed here if the video hadn’t gone viral,” she said.

After the video appeared, the police filed charges of attempted murder and the case sparked great outrage.

Islam, who was arrested on Sunday, is now in police custody. She is also accused of sexual harassment and assault. “I don’t know him, I didn’t see him. I don’t know who hit me,” the woman said. She is trying to remain brave. “I’m fine now. This (the 35-year-old’s house) is my home now and I will not return,” she said. “I was kicked, beaten and abused because I fell in love, but maybe it was because I violated social norms.”

She said she has two children from her 18-year marriage. “They are grown up. Let me live my life now,” she said. “I knew I would go through the insaaf (justice) and then live my life on my terms.”

Following the incident, which has become a political flashpoint in the state, the government has directed police to increase patrolling in rural areas and keep an eye on the Salishi Sabhas, a senior official told The Indian Express.

A woman in her 40s who witnessed the flogging said: “I wanted to stop the mob, but you can’t just challenge the system. She was beaten more than the man.”

Another villager said: “Internal matters such as family disputes are resolved internally” and “for larger matters we go to the police.”