By IANS

Raipur : Nine people have been arrested for assaulting and parading a 20-year-old youth naked in a Chhattisgarh village, the police said Wednesday.

According to the police, 10 villagers caught and beat Hariram Mandavi for allegedly stealing some 3-4 kg of `mahua' - a flower used to brew liquor.

Later they stripped Mandavi and paraded him in the village for hours, focing him to march to a drum beat.

The police registered a complaint Tuesday, five days after the incident took place March 20 in Bhandardigi village in Kanker district, some 320 km south of the state capital here.

"A case has been registered with Durgkondal police station and nine people have been arrested while one is absconding," Superintendent of Police Ratanlal Dangi told reporters.