West Bengal: Woman stripped naked, fingers chopped off after her cow entered neighbour's field

A middle-aged woman was stripped naked, beaten up and two of the fingers of her left hand were chopped off, in West Bengal's Malda district on Saturday late evening.

Her fault? Her cow entered the neighbour's field and grazed on the crop.

On Saturday late evening, the victim had tied her cow next to a field belonging to her neighbour Harun Sheikh. The cow, however, managed to enter Sheikh's field and ate the food grains.

Immediately, Harun and his associates -- Lalu Sheikh, Iftar Sheikh, Ahmed Sheikh, and three other local goons -- started beating up the cow. The cow has suffered severe fractures on two of her legs.

When the victim saw the animal being beaten up, she tried to stop them. But the accused stripped her naked and started hitting her mercilessly. Later, they chopped off two fingers of her left hand with a chopper. Her son, who tried to come to the rescue of his mother, was also beaten up.

The son has suffered severe injuries to the head and the back. Hearing cries of the mother and son due, the villagers rushed to help. The accused immediately fled the spot.

Victim's husband

I can't believe they tried to kill my wife only because the cow entered the field and ate the produce. Now when I'm trying to register my complaint, they are threatening to kill me."

A senior police officer said the woman and her son have been admitted to a hospital after lodging of an FIR against the neighbour Harun Seikh and seven other persons at Baisnabnagar police station.

The seven persons had allegedly provoked Sheikh, following which he had an altercation with the woman over her cattle grazing in his farmland, the officer said.

"Sheikh attacked the woman with a sharp-edged weapon when she argued," the woman alleged in her FIR with the police.

The names of the woman and her son were withheld by the officer. The accused are still at large.

(With agency inputs)