A Dalit woman was allegedly disrobed, thrashed and urinated on by a moneylender’s son and henchmen in her village in Patna district on Saturday night.

The woman is in hospital in a serious condition with head injuries.

The family of the woman, who does odd jobs for a living, said she had returned to Pramod Singh the Rs 1,500 she had borrowed a few months ago along with the agreed interest, but the moneylender and his associates demanded more.

“They would often visit our home and harass her on the pretext of collecting their dues. They visited us on Saturday morning and beat her,” a family member told reporters on Sunday.

“They threatened to disrobe and parade her naked in the village. She informed the police about this on her mobile phone.”

A police team visited the village, which apparently angered Pramod and his associates. They allegedly went to the victim’s home again at 10pm and forcibly took her to Pramod’s house.

“I had paid back the entire amount, but they dragged me to their house. I was disrobed and beaten with fists and sticks. Pramod asked
his son Anshu Singh to urinate in my mouth. He did so,” the woman has said in her police statement, a police source said.

After the injured woman reached her home, her family took her to a nearby hospital and informed the police.

“We have registered an FIR against Pramod, Anshu and four other unnamed people under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,” sub-inspector Rahul Dwivedi, the officer in charge of the local Khusrupur police station, told The Telegraph.

“We are trying to arrest the accused,” he added.

Incidents of Dalits or tribal people being attacked and urinated on have been reported in recent months from Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.