“I begged them for mercy but none of them heard me. They kept beating me and tore every piece of my cloth. When the beating continued, I had no choice but to run for life. I reached my house without my clothes on,” said the 35-year-old woman who was thrashed after being stripped in Hiremasali village of Indi taluk on Monday.

Speaking to The Hindu from her bed in the District Government Hospital, the woman said that the family members of Moulali Mundodagi thrashed her and tore her clothes off.

The husband of the victim, Dundayya Godyal, said that he was an agriculture worker and he came to know about the incident only at around 10 p.m. when he retuned home.

“To earn a living, I go to work in the fields every morning and return only at night. At home, I have an ailing and aged mother and my two children go to school,” he said.

Refuting the allegations that the woman had had an illicit relation with Moulali Mundodagi, the victim’s elder sister, Shivaleela, who was at the hospital, said that her sister had gone to seek money she had lent Moulali Mundodagi and his family.

“About five years ago, Moulali Mundodagi borrowed ₹ 30,000 from my sister, and since then, she has been asking for the money to be returned. The family kept refusing. On Monday, when she went to ask for the money again, the family members got angry and thrashed my sister,” she said. However, some villagers said that the victim and Moulali Mundodagi were indeed in a relationship and despite warning from the family members, the two continued it.

“We are investigating from both angles — the monetary and the illegal relationship. However, since a case has been registered against nine persons for outraging the modesty of a woman, we have arrested six, including a local resident who filmed the victim on his mobile phone while she was being stripped,” said Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Jain.

He said that Sugara, wife of Moulali Mundodagi, and her other relatives Shabana, Farida, Sikandar and Islamil, are among the arrested. Subhash who filmed the incident on his mobile phone is the other arrested person. District in-charge Minister M.B. Patil, who visited the hospital and met the woman, said that he has instructed the police to take action against the culprits.