Mob beats Indian woman MLA for 'remarrying a Muslim without taking divorce'

GUWAHATI: Indian Congress leader Rumi Nath was savagely attacked by a mob of 100 people for allegedly remarrying Jaki Jakir, a Muslim man, without taking divorce from her first husband.

A mob of 100 people attacked the couple when the were having dinner at a hotel in Assam on Saturday.

Rumi Nath, a 33-year old woman MLA, who represents Borkhola assembly constituency, married Jaki Jakir last month and converted to Islam.

The police said action would be taken against attackers.

"I got attacked by some boys who were drunk. They even tried to rape me and take my clothes off, so it's an attempt to murder and rape. Since I got married it has been a political issue; it's 100 per cent a political conspiracy," Rumi Nath said while talking to Indian media.

Nath was first taken to a hospital and later shifted to her residence where she is recovering.

"They went to a hotel and tried to take shelter when a crowd of people surrounded them and manhandled, and also physically assaulted them. We have registered a case. Some elements are trying to give a communal colour to this incident," Jayanta Choudhury, DGP, Assam was quoted as saying by an Indian news channel.

Superintendent of Police Pradip Pujari said that five people, suspected to have been involved in the attack, have been arrested.

Some reports say they were attacked because they had together visited a temple during the day.

Rumi Nath was first elected to the Assembly in 2006 on a BJP ticket from Borkhola constituency. She later defected to the Congress and won the seat a second time in the 2011 elections.

Her first husband Rakesh Singh, with whom she has a two-year-old daughter, had filed an FIR last month saying his wife was missing. But Mrs Nath herself came out in the open saying she remarried her Facebook friend and converted of her own free will.

Rumi Nath's party has condemned the incident.

The National Commission of Women (NCW) too has promised to look into the case.

Though the police say that action is being taken against the guilty, it seems the administration is going slow on the case.