A viral video displaying a mob armed with sticks and iron rods thrashing automobiles and attacking individuals, earlier than violently taking away a lady from her home, has despatched shockwaves throughout India.

Police in Telangana state arrested 31 individuals inside hours of the house invasion and abduction, which occurred in broad daylight on Friday morning. However, the person police consider is on the centre of the mob assault, Kodudula Naveen Reddy, remains to be at giant. Reddy, a tea baron, is accused of main the violent mob to kidnap the dentist, hours earlier than her engagement to a different man. 

Despite latest calls by prime minister Narendra Modi to finish misogyny, crimes in opposition to ladies in India are rising. Official information recorded 76,263 kidnappings and abductions in 2020, of which 28,222 had been to “compel [women into] marriage.”

The incident is part of an growing pattern of “crimes of passion” police classify as “jilted lover syndrome.” It’s resulting in murders, abductions, acid assaults and different types of violence in opposition to ladies throughout India. In August, a stalker together with a gang of 15 males kidnapped a woman at knife-point in Tamil Nadu state as a result of she refused his marriage proposal. The lady was rescued by the police hours later, and the stalker and his gang had been arrested. India reports a stalking case each 55 minutes. 

At a press conference, police stated that final week’s abduction was preplanned, and that Reddy attacked the girl whereas holding her hostage. “[The] victim was in shock and couldn’t say anything,” Sudheer Babu, a senior police officer, stated. On Monday, police found Reddy’s car, used to kidnap the girl, deserted exterior the town. 

The lady, a dentist, was rescued the identical evening and her dad and mom registered a police grievance in opposition to Reddy. According to the dad and mom’ police assertion, Reddy had been stalking and harassing their daughter for months. 

Reddy, based on the police report, arrange a tea store reverse her home to maintain a observe of her. He is the director of a registered firm referred to as Mr Tea Food and Beverages Private Limited, and likewise owns three other private companies. 

Reddy met the dentist at a badminton college and two months later approached her with a wedding proposal, which she rejected. Police informed the media that Reddy claims to be married to the girl, and that the kidnapping was carried out to rescue her from getting engaged to a different man. 

The dentist, nonetheless, denies this declare, saying that the day Reddy claims they bought married, she was at an Army dental hospital conducting coaching. “I have not signed any papers,” she told the media gathered exterior her home after her rescue this weekend. 

She confirmed that, whereas holding her hostage, Reddy grabbed her by her hair, hit her within the face a number of occasions, and threatened to kill her dad and mom if she didn’t comply with marry him. She now needs police safety for her household, who had been left bleeding by the mob assault too. 

Police commissioner Mahesh Bhagwath, who’s overseeing the investigation, stated they’re within the technique of gathering proof. The lady additionally went through a medical examination. 

“We assure the citizens that all such anti-social elements, who breach the law and order, will be cracked down with stern legal action,” Bhagwath told the media.

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