Surat: Bardoli Rural police on Thursday arrested 13 persons including five women for allegedly torturing three members of a family in Masad village after a young man from the family reportedly eloped with a girl from a different community.The victims were allegedly beaten, paraded through the village, and assaulted again after being tied to a tree on Feb 2.A video of the incident later surfaced, showing women crying for help while tied to the tree.Police arrested Sudhir Patel, his wife Shila, their son Mayur, and 10 others for allegedly attacking the three family members. The accused were booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The complaint was lodged by Jainish Rathod (24), a labourer, who alleged that he, his mother Nayna, and another woman, Anita, were assaulted.According to the complaint, Jainish’s elder brother Rakshak (27) is suspected to have eloped earlier this week with Hiral Patel (22), a resident of the same village. Police said the two were believed to be friends. Both remained untraceable till Thursday night.Following Hiral’s disappearance, her family members, relatives, and community members allegedly gathered outside the Rathod residence, demanding that the girl be brought back. The crowd later dragged the victims out of the house, assaulted them, and paraded them in the village. Women in the mob also joined the assault.Despite the family repeatedly stating that they had no information about Hiral’s whereabouts, the accused allegedly continued beating them. The victims were later tied to a tree and assaulted again.“The victim family was not ready to lodge a complaint earlier, but after the video surfaced, police contacted them and convinced them to do so,” said a police officer.
