Chandigarh: A woman was allegedly dragged out of her home, lashed with a belt, punched and kicked by a group of men, including the brother of a Congress leader, in Punjab's Muktsar district over an unpaid loan on Friday.
The attack sparked outrage after a video of the assault over an allegedly unpaid loan of Rs 23,000 surfaced on social media, with the opposition parties criticising the "deteriorating" law and order in the state.
The police claimed to have nabbed six men, including the brother of a Congress member of the Mukstar municipal council.
In the video, the 35-year-old was seen being assaulted in the middle of a road as her son kept watching helplessly, crying and saying: "My mother is being beaten up."
The woman's son apparently shot the video clip, in which she is seen being pulled by her hair. One of the accused even sat on her when she was lying on the road.
An elderly woman, apparently her mother, is seen trying to stop the men from thrashing her. But she is also slapped and pushed by one of them.
According to the police, the woman was brutally assaulted after an argument over money between her and the wife of one of the accused. The victim owed Rs 23,000 to Suresh Chaudhary, the councillor's brother, police said.
Chaudhary and five others have been arrested. The remaining four accused, including councillor Rakesh Chaudhary, are on the run, said Senior Superintendent of Police Manjit Singh Dhesi.
Dhesi said cases had been registered against the 10 accused under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 452 (house trespass), 354 (assault to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and other sections of the Indian Penal Code.
"The six arrested were produced in a local court on Saturday and sent to two-day police remand," the SSP said.