NEW DELHI: A 20-year old tribal woman was allegedly gang-raped at Labhpur in West Bengal’s Birbhum district by 13 persons reportedly on orders of a kangaroo court that opposed her affair with a man from a different community, Press Trust of India said on Thursday.

Reacting to the incident, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has ordered the removal of the Superintendent of Police of the region.

The agency quoted police as saying that all the accused had been arrested while the woman was in a very critical condition at Suri Hospital after the assault on Tuesday night.

The woman’s family filed a complaint with the Labhpur police station that the incident happened following a meeting by her community leaders who decided to mete out the ‘punishment’ for her ‘crime’ of being in love with someone outside her community, PTI said.

Refusing to give details, ASP Prashanta Chowdhury said “prima facie, she was gangraped and we have rounded up 13 persons. No more details.”

The youth with whom the girl reportedly had an affair has also been arrested apart from the 13 men who have been slapped with charges of gang-rape and causing grievous injury to a woman, police sources told PTI. It said the charges against the youth are not clear.

A section of locals told the media the incident took place after a kangaroo court of tribals gave the shocking ‘verdict’ but this could not be officially confirmed, PTI said.

A teenaged tribal girl was paraded naked in the district four years ago for the same reason, which had sparked an outrage in the state and women’s organisations were up in arms.

The incident is one among many that have continued to mock new stringent laws to prevent sexual violence against women. A Danish woman was gang-raped near Delhi’s premier Connaught Place shopping hub last week.

Three governments have updated travel advice for women visiting India, urging them to exercise caution because of an increasing number of sex attacks, which have not spared foreigners.