A 21-year-old man and his cousin sister were allegedly tied to a tree and beaten up by villagers in Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa district on the suspicion of having an illicit relationship, police said on Sunday. The incident took place on April 3 in Bamanda village under Piplod police station limits and came to light when a video of it surfaced on Thursday, following which the police registered a case, an official said. Based on a complaint, three persons were arrested and booked under relevant provisions while the others involved in the incident were being identified, Deputy Superintendent of Police Anil Chouhan said. A video surfaced on social media in which the married woman and her cousin brother were seen tied to a tree with a rope. The man had came to meet his sister in the village and both were sitting on a cot and talking outside her home, Chouhan said. Since the woman's husband was not at home, some villagers raised suspicion over their relation and surrounded them, he said. Even after the woman's husband confirmed over phone that the man was his wife's cousin, some villagers beat them up. The other locals later saved the duo, the official said. The police have registered a case under Indian Penal Code Sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 294 (obscene act), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and other relevant provisions, he said.
