A young woman was paraded naked by her husband in broad daylight for refusing to become a partner in his anti-social activities in a north Telangana district.

Petty thief Narasimhulu of Nagaram village of Nizamabad district, about 55 km from the district headquarters, dragged his naked wife by the hair at knife-point for almost 1 km on the village road. Her offence was just that she refused to sell stolen goods like gold jewellery, electronic goods and clothes he had stolen. "My husband wants me to take the goods to the district town and sell it at the roadside. But, I refused as I was scared," his wife Lakshmi, a mother of two, told the police.

Scared villagers ran away and some youth tried to snatch the knife from Narasimhulu as the shocking parade of the couple spread like wildfire in the village, which is on the outskirts of Yellareddy mandal headquarters. Narasimhulu even threatened them with a knife.The terrified and embarrassed wife dared to escape and jumped into a nearly shallow pond to ward him off, but Narasimhulu dragged her back to road.

He was soon overpowered by policemen, who reached the spot after a few minutes. The 26-year-old's husband claimed he was "punishing" her for refusing to help him sell items that he had stolen. He has been arrested and charged with attempt to murder and also the Nirbhaya Act.

Theft is a common feature among Banjara tribals of the district and the goods stolen by menfolk is normally sold by women, police said. "Police have been counselling women not to sell the goods," said the police inspector of Yellareddy town.