Hathras (UP), Mar 18 (NDTV): For over ten minutes, a young college student and her male friend are beaten by six young men in Western Uttar Pradesh. The attack was filmed on a cellphone by one of the assaulters and circulated on WhatsApp.

Four men have been arrested for the assault on March 8 in Hathras, a five-hour drive from the state capital of Lucknow.

According to the student, her friend and she were on a motorcycle in a market when they were surrounded by the gang, which was also on bikes, and forced them to ride to an isolated spot. "They abused and beat us repeatedly. I begged them to leave us, but they continued to misbehave and called me names". The video shows the girl being slapped while the boy is hit with a tree branch.

After the assault, the young couple was abandoned and they rode their bike back into town. The young woman initially did not share the encounter with her family. Her uncle saw the video on WhatsApp and reported the matter to the police.

The men are from the same village as the girl and one of the men was reportedly in love with the girl, said police sources.