Nellore: A woman staying all by herself at the Housing Board colony here was brutally attacked by a CPI-M leader and a group of his followers including women and shockingly, her own husband.

According to the victim, CPI-M leader Padiyam Srihari forced her to have sex with him as she was staying away from her husband some time back. The woman lodged a complaint with the police and a case under SC/ST Atrocities Act was booked against Srihari. He was arrested and was released from the jail on bail recently.

After coming out of the jail, he started pressurizing her to withdraw the case. On Thursday evening, Srihari and a group of 20 people that included men, women and the victim's husband Pradeep Kumar, beat her up indiscriminately. After she fell unconscious, they were taking her in an auto to throw her into Penna river. Some onlooker intervened and shifted her to a hospital where she is recovering.

The victim told the media that the attackers clicked her photos after stripping her and threatened to post on them online if she did not withdraw the case. She appealed to the SP of Nellore district to get her pictures back and take stringent action against CPI-M leader Padiyam Srihari and his followers who attacked her. Women's organizations strongly condemned the attack and demanded action against the culprits.