Woman Publicly Assaulted and Humiliated in Rajasthan, India

Author: Nayan Bansal

September 22, 2026

HRRC stands with the victim and adheres to the human rights principles of equality and dignity of the individual. HRRC also reaffirms its commitment to protect the rights of women and eliminate all forms of violence based on gender and sex, as enshrined in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Village of Bansara, India [Image credit: Roshan Bhagora/Wikimedia Commons]

On September 1st, a woman was publicly assaulted and paraded semi-nude in Anjana village of Banswara district, Rajasthan, India. She was publicly beaten by her husband and other relatives while several villagers filmed the incident. A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against 10 persons, while an additional seven have been arrested by the local police. 

One news outlet reported that the victim is a 40-year-old tribal woman. She allegedly went with a neighbor to find work as a laborer, but her husband and family accused her of having another relationship with another man. She was forced to walk barefoot publicly, and later was assaulted and her head shaved. Despite the family’s claims, she is a migrant worker and obtained a job 10 days prior to the incident. 

The Banswara deputy superintendent of police (DSP) has registered the case under Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) to condemn the exploitation and abuse of a woman, especially in public. DSP also filed the case under the Information Technology Act, highlighting the violations of privacy and dignity through the circulation of the filmed incident on social media. 

A report by Outlook India also discussed the multiple sections of BNS in which the FIR is lodged, including: “[A]ssault or use of criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage modesty, assault or use of criminal force on a woman with intent to disrobe, word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman, unlawful assembly and voluntarily causing hurt.” Meanwhile, the sections under the IT Act are not mentioned clearly as to which violation category the filming of video and its social media sharing falls into.

Following the incident, political opposition parties became active on concerns related to women’s safety and dignity in public. Rajasthan Congress President Govind Singh Dotasra condemned the incident, while Rajasthan Congress Mahila Committee President Sarika Chaudhary criticized the ruling government over the delayed response of the police over complaint filing and women safety in the state. 

Although the incident’s video went viral on September 3rd, the DSP said that the claims of delayed actions are false and that the FIR was lodged on the same day of the incident. Officials also said that a medical examination of the assaulted woman was conducted immediately after the incident. However, there are no detailed reports on the conclusions of the medical examination, the hospital where the examination was conducted or whether the examination was trauma-informed. 

On September 15th, the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) took suo moto cognizance of the matter. NHRC highlighted concerns over the violation of the victim's right to life and dignity and issued a notice to the chief secretary of the government and superintendent of police of Rajasthan, requesting a detailed report. The Commission recognized that the woman was subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment. This incident is a direct violation of Articles 1 and 5 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights Principles (UDHR), where a person's dignity has been stripped and the individual subjected to public assault and humiliation. 

Further, the United Nations CEDAW protects women from any kind of gender-based violence on the principle of equality with men, as enshrined in Articles 1 to 5 of the Convention. In this case, the woman was subjected to violence by her husband and other family members as they suspected her having a relationship with another man. The actions taken were based on both suspicion and the gendered stereotype on the role of married women outside the family. Research shows that there is social acceptance for some form of intimate partner violence, which perpetuates this stereotype and such abuses. 

Article 5 of CEDAW mandates that states eliminate the prejudiced social and cultural practices that are “based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women.” Although India ratified the Convention on July 9, 1993 with declarations on Articles 5(a) and 16(1)--pledging non-interference “in the personal affairs of any Community without its initiative and consent”--this case doesn’t involve community-specific practices. Consequently, NHRC India remains committed to securing justice for the victim.

Details on the investigation have yet to arrive to the NHRC.

---

Glossary 

Arrest - captured by an authority 

Assaulted - to attack someone violently 

Authorities - person or groups with official responsibility 

Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita - official criminal code of India

Condemned - declared wrong or evil 

Circulation - flow

Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) - a DSP is a rank of police officers at the sub divisional level in districts. She or he may serve as an investigation officer as well.

Enshrined - preserved as sacred 

Eliminate - to remove something

Humiliation - making someone ashamed or embarrassed 

Inhumane treatment - treatment that challenges the principle of human dignity 

Investigation - act of detailed examination 

Modesty - inherent virtue of dignity, humility, simplicity

Paraded - to march publicly 

Reaffirm - to express strong belief again to confirm something

Subjected - to bring under one's control 

Suspicion - the act of suspecting without proof 

Suo moto cognizance - taking up the matter on their own, often by judicial courts, without any formal complaint 

Suspected - believed to be guilty of a crime

Trauma-informed - to act in a way that the negative impact(s) of past trauma(s) can be removed.