Accused in Belagavi woman assault case arrested, victim will be allotted land: State to Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court was on Wednesday informed by the State government that the investigation into the Belagavi woman assault case, where a 42-year-old woman was publicly beaten and stripped by fellow villagers, was on track and complete for the most part. .A bench of Chief Justice PB Varale and Justice Krishna Dixit recorded a memo submitted by the Additional Advocate General, which indicated that the majority of the investigation in the case was complete, including the recording of statements and the arrest of the accused. The State further said that it is positively considering the request for allotment of alternative land to the victim, which was closer to her village, under the Karnataka Valmiki Scheduled Tribe Development Scheme. .The incident took place pre-dawn on December 11, 2023 after the victim woman's son eloped with a girl from the same village, whose marriage had been fixed with another man.The 42-year-old woman is said to have been tied to a pole, beaten, stripped and paraded in the village after the girl's relatives came to know that she had run away from home.Police officers are said to have rushed to the spot to rescue the woman, after a villager tipped off the authorities.The High Court took suo motu cognisance of the incident on December 12, 2023..The bench today observed that cash compensation has been disbursed to the victim woman.The Court also noted that necessary security arrangements including the deployment of armed officers and constant vigil by the local police station have been made to address the safety concerns of the victim."It may not be necessary for us to refer to minute details of this arrangement considering the security aspect of the victim. It can be safely be stated that these arrangements take appropriate care of the security concerns of the victim," the Court added..As for the investigation progress, the Court was told that authorities were awaiting a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report and that a final report is expected to be submitted before the competent authority by the end of the month.On the aspect of allotting land to the victim as part of remedial measures, the State submitted that certain land had been identified under the Karnataka Valmiki Scheduled Tribe Development Scheme. However, the victim had since requested that an alternative piece of land that is closer to her village be allotted instead. The State government is considering the said request positively and is in the process of searching for such an alternative parcel of land, the Court was told. The Court asked the State to submit a report on this aspect by the next hearing of the matter which will be after three weeks.