Tribal woman from West Bengal forced to walk naked for nearly 10 kms

The Women's Commission in the Indian state of West Bengal has announced an inquiry into allegations that a tribal woman was forced to walk without her clothes for nearly 10km through three villages, while being filmed on a mobile phone. 

They say that she was also molested and jeered by a large crowd. Locals say she was being "punished" because of an illicit love affair with a man from a different community.

"Our team will visit the village of Masra – in the Birbhum district of West Bengal – and speak to the tribal woman concerned. We want the offenders brought to book," Malini Bhattacharya of the West Bengal Commission for Women told the BBC.

Ms Bhattacharya said Birbhum district police Superintendent Humayun Kabir had been asked to submit a detailed report to the Women's Commission.

Critics say that it was only after mobile phone clips of the woman went into wide circulation that the police swung into action. Six of the men who allegedly molested her have now been arrested.