Watch | MP woman forced to walk with boy on shoulders for allegedly leaving her husband

The Madhya Pradesh Police on Monday arrested four people for allegedly forcing a woman to perform a regressive ritual of carrying her former husband’s brother on her shoulders because she left him for another man, ANI reported.

A video of the incident, which shows a boy perched on the woman’s shoulder as she lunges forward, was widely circulated on social media. The clip also shows villagers, all men, heckling and making fun of her as they march behind her. Some of them even hit her with sticks when she slowed down.

Superintendent of Police Rajiv Mishra told ANI that the incident took place on February 9 in Guna district of the state. “The woman was being punished by her in-laws because she had left her first husband and has started living with another man,” he added. “This is the regressive tradition being followed in the region.”