The Maoixsts later shot dead the husband and his brother in front of her. The incident took place on Saturday night but came to light after she filed an FIR on Tuesday.

According to the FIR, a group of armed Maoists attacked the house of one Kalipada Chakraborty at 11 pm on Saturday. They tried to drag the 52-year-old man and his brother Sukumar Chakraborty (38) out of the house. Kalipada’s wife pleaded with the Maoists not to take away her husband and clasped the feet of the squad leader, who is believed to Ranjit Paul, the area commander of the Ayodhya squad.

But the ultras showed no mercy and dragged the rest of the family — Kalipada’s wife and her four daughters, all of them below 15 years of age — to the courtyard where they began assaulting the two men and the woman. The Maoists did not even spare the 80-year-old father of Kalipada, stated the FIR. A witness said that Maoists left posters stating that the two men were killed for being police informers. The Maoists looted jewellery and clothes that Kalipada had bought for one of his daughters who was getting to be married.

“We have lodged a sedition and murder case. Moreover, charges of loot and assault on woman have been lodged after we received the complaint from the victim. The Maoists have burnt the woman’s hands completely,” said Rajesh Yadav, SP, Purulia.