Surrogate woman wants to marry her rapist

Ahmedabad, July 16: There is another twist to the surrogate woman's rape case. The rape-victim had called up city crime branch officials to say that she wants to marry her rapist, Rajkumar Jadav, and withdraw her earlier complaint.

Crime branch officials have asked the woman to submit a written application in this regard; despite repeated summons issued by crime branch officials, the complainant has not turned up before the police to record her statement. She was in the civil hospital for medical inspection for two days before being released recently.

On last Wednesday, a 30-year-old pregnant surrogate woman had approached the Mahila police station and registered a complaint against Rajkumar, a Nadiad resident who is the son of a constable. According to the woman, a resident of Ahmedabad, Rajkumar abducted her and raped her at his home in Nadiad. The woman also claimed that she had earlier been hired to bear him a child. Police investigation revealed that Rajkumar is not married while the complainant is a divorcee.

Joint commissioner of police, crime branch, AK Sharma said, "Even if she withdraws her complaint, several aspects have to be investigated. For instance we have to probe if her first baby was the result of surrogacy, how the baby reached a childless couple in Mumbai and whether the child was sold for money."

Crime branch officials have also sought the baby's birth registration details from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). "According to the victim, her first surrogate baby was born in a city hospital in 2011. There should be a birth record for this. We want to check these entries in the municipal records to ascertain whether it was a surrogate baby and if not who was the father in official documents," said a crime branch official.

According to the rape-victim she is now pregnant with a second surrogate baby for a childless couple. The doctor who acted as the intermediary between her and the couple, Dr Bharat Atit, has confirmed before the crime branch that the second pregnancy is for a surrogate baby. Crime branch officials have now sought for all records concerning this surrogacy. "We have also asked the doctor to submit the contract that validates this surrogacy. We are also probing whether Dr Atit had any role to play in the woman's first surrogate baby," said crime branch officials.

Assistant police commissioner, crime branch, Mayur Chavda, said, "We need to question the rape victim and Rajkumar to know who they sold the first baby to. The victim woman has claimed that Rajkumar is now with her. We have asked her to report to the crime branch office with Rajkumar. We want to know where the first baby is now."