In a chilling incident in Madhya Pradesh's Raisen district, a 70-year-old man was allegedly taken away, brutally assaulted, and then forced to drink urine by a mob over his son's relationship.
Bihari Banjara, a resident of Agariya Markho village, was targeted by a group of 10-12 men after his son allegedly eloped with a woman from Shamshabad in neighbouring Vidisha district.
What followed, police say, was a sequence of violence that crossed all limits of brutality, captured on camera and circulated on social media.
According to the complainant, the accused first stormed Banjara's house in search of the woman, assaulted him and his wife, and then forcibly took the elderly man away. Then he was driven nearly 150 km to Biaora in Rajgarh district, where the mob allegedly beat him mercilessly and forced him to drink urine from a bottle.
"They forced me to drink urine...Shamlal, Malkhan, Rodji, Beeran, Lakshman...these 12 people beat me badly," Banjara said. "They said, 'Come, let's go find your son and bring the woman back.' They took me near Biaora, beat me, abused me, and forced me to drink urine. I want justice."
The horror did not end there. The accused allegedly filmed the entire act and circulated the video, adding another layer of humiliation to the brutal assault. After that, the accused dumped Banjara outside his home and fled.
Family members alleged that when they approached the Raisen police station initially, no action was taken.
"Six to seven people came and took my father-in-law away. They beat him mercilessly and even held a gun to his throat," said Geetabai, Banjara's daughter-in-law. "When we went to the police station, they threatened us that if we speak out, they will beat us even more."
Geetabai's husband, Badri Prasad, said that the family was not at home when his brother eloped with the woman.
"We were in Rajasthan at the time. My brother had eloped with a woman. These people surrounded our house, stayed all night, and at 4 am took my father away. They beat my mother too...and forced my father to drink urine," he said.
Later, when they found the couple, they got them married. Then the woman was sent to her home, and his brother was taken to jail, he claimed.
With no immediate action, Banjara travelled to Bhopal and submitted a formal complaint with the Director General of Police, presenting the viral video as evidence. The case has since gained traction and led to inter-district police coordination.
Raisen Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDOP) Pratibha Sharma confirmed that a complaint has been registered, and efforts are underway to arrest the accused.
"Bihari Banjara has reported that he was forced to drink urine near Biaora in Rajgarh. This is linked to an earlier case where his son had eloped with a girl from Shamshabad. We have informed our senior officers and coordinated with Rajgarh Police. A team has arrived, and we are fully cooperating to arrest the accused," she said.
