Rewa, MP: Amid a spate of brutal incidents that have rocked Madhya Pradesh recently, another horrific video has emerged from the state showing a 34-year-old man being stripped half-naked, punched, and forced to pick up a shoe with his mouth in Rewa district.

Police said three people, including the prime accused, have been arrested after video went viral.

The video, which has gone viral on social media platforms, was reportedly shot over two years ago in May 2021, police said. In the viral clip, the victim can be seen with his hands tied behind his back as he begs for mercy from his tormentors.

The video shows the victim with his hands tied behind his back and his pants pulled down, being repeatedly punched and slapped by the assailant. He was also allegedly forced to pick up a shoe with his mouth.

A property dispute seems to be the prima facie trigger behind the crime, a police officer said.

“On seeing the video, we have arrested the prime accused Jawahar Singh (55), a member of the Gond tribe, and his two accomplices,” Rewa Superintendent of Police Vivek Singh told news agency PTI.

He said the video, which started doing rounds of social media last week, was recorded in May 2021 at Piprahi village under the Hanumna police station limits in Rewa.

According to the police, the prime accused is a tribal while the victim belongs to an upper caste.

The police officer said the prime accused is employed as a clerk at a government school and is the husband of a village sarpanch.

“He kidnapped the other man, stripped him half naked, tied his hands behind the back, punched him, and made him pick up a shoe by his mouth,” the SP said.

An FIR has been registered against Jawahar Singh and two others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code on Saturday. A local court remanded the trio in judicial custody.

A flurry of brutal incidents

Madhya Pradesh has been in the eye of the storm recently due to several incidents of assault against people belonging to the lower strata, including the infamous Sidhi pee-gate case where a man was seen urinating on a tribal youth.

A disturbing video emerged earlier this month from a village in the state’s Narmadapuram district where three young men were stripped half-naked and brutally thrashed with wooden sticks by a group of people for allegedly “misbehaving” with villagers.

The viral video shows the three men lying on the ground, half-naked on their belly, while around half-a-dozen men viciously beat them with wooden sticks without mercy.

Earlier, the the infamous Sidhi urination incident swirled up a sea of outrage across the country.

Another shocking video, which emerged from Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar city earlier this month, showed a theft-accused man being stripped naked and then viciously assaulted with pipes and wooden sticks by a group of unidentified men.

The viral video showed the victim sitting down naked against a wall and holding out his hands while the men hit his appendages with wooden sticks and pipes. The victim’s clothes are seen lying next to him.