Three men are seen assaulting the 16-year-old teenager in this grab from the viral video, which was recorded in Gujarat's Chota Udepur district
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday took to Twitter to condemn the incident of a 16-year-old girl being assaulted by her family members in Gujarat's Chhota Udepur district, the video of which has been going viral on social media. "The violence in this video is not isolated. It’s an expression of what many Indian women have always faced. The violence comes in many forms and is sustained by a culture that glorifies symbols of womanhood while simultaneously treating women with total contempt and disrespect," the former Congress President tweeted.
(Warning: The video in the tweet may be distressing to some viewers)
The distressing video shows a 16-year-old young lady being thrashed by a stick by two men, as another man is seen pinning her hands behind her back. At one point in the video, the woman stumbles and falls over after being repeatedly hit, following which she is even kicked by one of the men.
Several locals are seen in the vicinity as the thrashing takes place, but none of them tries to intervene and rescue the girl. According to several media reports, the men seen beating up the woman were members of her family, which was upset over the teenager eloping with a man from their village.
Many social media users have been calling upon the state authorities to institute charges against the men seen in the video, after the 45-second clip started doing the rounds of social media.
