Overview

• Jalanta Baliarsingh had been awaiting a family court hearing after a village panchayat ordered his wife to reside with her parents following domestic violence allegations against him.
• He went to his in-laws’ village to buy groceries on Thursday night and was caught, tied to a pole and beaten by his wife’s parents.
• The assault was filmed and the video circulated widely on social media, drawing public attention to the incident.
• Gajapati district police arrived the next morning, freed him and launched a criminal investigation into the in-laws’ actions.
• The case highlights tensions between informal panchayat verdicts and formal judicial processes in rural domestic disputes.