In yet another incident of moral policing in Kerala, a 43-year-old woman was allegedly tied to a coconut tree and assaulted for hours by a group of people from her neighbourhood at Chithara near Kadakkal in Kollam district. A youth, friend of the woman’s son, was also attacked by the moral goondas. The victim said she had lodged a complaint with the police promptly but there had been no effective action.

The incident allegedly took place on the night of June 12. According to the woman, a gang of seven or eight men living in her neighbourhood barged into her house at night, dragged her out and assaulted her after tying her to a coconut tree in the courtyard of the house. They also tried to tear away her clothes, she said.

Her son’s friend, who was in the house at that time, was also tied to a tree similarly and assaulted. The assault ended only after some people in the neighbourhood alerted the police. However, the assailants fled the scene before the police arrived. It has also been alleged that the assailants had taken photographs of the woman and posted them on the social media.

“They dragged me through the floor. They tied me with a coconut tree. Then they started beating me up,” the woman said, adding that the attack lasted for about two hours. “Then they took my photographs and used them to humiliate me further by publicising through WhatsApp,” she said.

The woman also said that she had lodged a complaint with the police by specifying the names of those who attacked her. “When I went to complain, the Circle Inspector and sub-Inspector tried to scare me,” she said. As per reports, the seven persons whose names had been mentioned in the complaint were called to the Kadakkal police station but were released on bail.

The only son of the woman, whose husband had abandoned her a few years ago , was staying at another place.