Dowry torture: Woman locked in cowshed with cattle, raped by in-laws for three years

July 5, 2012

torture

Bhopal, July 5: Unable to meet dowry demands of in-laws, a 20-year-old woman was allegedly kept locked in a cowshed for three years and repeatedly raped by her husband, his relatives and neighbours in a village in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh.

The hapless woman faced sexual exploitation for 36 months till she was sold to a moneylender for Rs 50,000 this May as her parents were in no condition to pay dowry to in-laws. When she fell critically ill, a neighbour took her to a hospital, but he too allegedly raped her on the way.

In a chance encounter, a relative of the victim spotted her at the moneylender's house and reported the matter to her father.

On July 1, the woman went to the Rahatgarh police station with her relatives and narrated the harrowing tale, leaving the police baffled. According to the office of the SP Sagar, the woman was married to Anand Kurmi of Parasri Tyonda village five years ago. Soon after the marriage, the in-laws allegedly began mentally and physically torturing her for more dowry.

"They had demanded Rs one lakh during the wedding, which we paid,'' said victim's father Ram Kisan, a farmer with a meagre land holding of 2.5 acre.

"But they kept making demands even after the marriage. They wanted a colour television, motorbike, tractor and Rs one lakh more in cash. They would beat my daughter and wouldn't give her food," he said.

When the girl, then aged 16, got pregnant - the in-laws, including brother-in-law Niraj, his wife Uma Bai and mother-in-law Kala Bai forced her to abort the child. Two years after the marriage, the in-laws decided that she was no longer going to live with them in the same house.

The life of the hapless woman was even beyond the imagination of a Bollywood script writer. The in-laws locked the girl, then 16 and pregnant, with cows and buffaloes in the cowshed. For days on end, she had to go without food and water. A neighbour, identified as Guddu Maharaj and his friends, repeatedly raped her for months in the cowshed.

Husband Anand Kurmi, in the meantime, allegedly shifted the victim to a relative's house in Khurai 25 km away. Here, the relative, a middle-aged Ram Singh and his sons Narendra and Lokendra did not spare the girl. Father and sons allegedly locked the girl in the house and raped her for more than 20 days. The barbarity did not stop at it. Ram Singh sold the victim to a moneylender Dwarka Prasad from Mahuna village near Khurai in May this year. Ram Singh claimed he was the father of the girl and the deal was finalised for Rs 50,000 in cash and one acre land in Mahuna. The young woman's troubles did not end and her sexual exploitation continued. When she fell critically ill one day, a neighbour in Mahuna village, identified as Khadak Singh, assured that he would take to a hospital for treatment. But on the way to the health centre, the woman was raped by him too. She was brought back to the moneylender's house where by sheer chance, a cousin of her spotted the woman.

"We kept visiting her in-law's residence in Parasri Tyonda," said Ram Kisan, his voice choked as he spoke. "They said we could not meet her till we gave the dowry. I did not have the faintest idea that my daughter was going through hell. Then word reached us that she was in a moneylender's house in Khurai and had been sold. This made the family to rush and rescue her from the monsters," he added.

On June 28, the victim was rescued by her family members and brought to her father's house in Madhdevra village. Two days later, they decided to go to the police and report the matter.

Police registered a case against ten persons, including husband, in-laws and others under Sections 498A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty), 372 (selling minor for purpose of prostitution), 376 (rape), 363 (kidnapping), 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage), 450 (house trespass), 294 (obscenity), 506 (criminal intimidation), 34 (common intention) of the IPC. Police arrested three of the accused, including Khadak Singh, who raped her on the way to the health centre, moneylender Dwarka Prasad and Ram Singh, who sold the victim.


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News Network
April 9,2020

Gonda, Apr 9: A man allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling of his room as he was missing his wife stuck at her parents' place due to the lockdown, police said.

The incident took place in Radha Kund locality here on Wednesday, they said, adding the deceased has been identified as Rakesh Soni, 32.

As per information, Soni's wife had gone to her parents' place and was stuck there due to the lockdown and he was missing her due to which he committed suicide, Inspector Alok Rao said.

A probe is on in the mater, he said.

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Agencies
May 25,2020

Hyderabad, May 25: Indicating foul play in the death of nine people, including six of a family, whose bodies were fished out from a well near Warangal, a forensic expert on Sunday virtually ruled out suicide theory, saying it appeared seven of them had been dragged and thrown into the water body.

Mystery shrouded the death of nine people, including six of a family, whose bodies were found in a well, five of them on Friday and four on Thursday, on the outskirts of Warangal in Telangana.

Police stepped up the probe and forensic analysis was also underway in the case.

The forensic expert, who visited the crime scene as part of the investigation citing preliminary tests, said that the seven of nine people had scratch injuries and appeared to have been "dragged" and "thrown" into the well.

Forensic reports are expected in 10 days, the forensic expert told media on Sunday adding after examining the crime scene it appears that the deaths were not suicides.

"We have preserved all organs and the same were sent to forensic science laboratory (FSL) for examination... some two or three persons might have been involved in the crime. There are scratch injuries on the bodies," he said.

"It appears that they were thrown into the water... There were no injuries on the child's body. We are awaiting the forensic report (to ascertain) whether they were poisoned. It didn't appear as if they committed suicide," the expert, who performed the post-mortem said.

Police sources said at least two people were picked up for questioning.

Bodies of the head of the family, wife, daughter and three-year old grandson were found floating and fished out on Thursday.

On Friday morning, some bodies were seen floating following which police pumped out the water from the well and found others.

The 48-year old man had migrated from West Bengal over 20 years ago and had settled down here. His family had been staying in two rooms on the premises of the unit, police had earlier said.

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News Network
June 10,2020

Jun 10: In a suspected case of honor killing in Telangana, a 20-year old woman was allegedly smothered to death by her parents for being in love with a man from another caste, becoming pregnant and refusing to undergo an abortion, police said on Tuesday.

The parents killed their daughter using a pillow while she was asleep in the early hours of June 7 in their house in Kalukuntla in Jogulamba-Gadwal district and sought to project it as natural death, claiming she died of a heart attack.

However, following specific information and suspicion raised by the village secretary over the death of the woman, a college student, a probe was launched and the couple arrested on charges of murder under Indian Penal Code section 302 after post-mortem, police said.

The parents decided to kill the woman, the youngest of their three daughters, a day after she was found pregnant and refused to undergo an abortion, police said.

The woman had fallen in love with the man while pursuing her degree course in Kurnool district in neighboring Andhra Pradesh and informed her parents about it after she was found pregnant during an examination by a doctor. Her parents feared that their daughter may elope with her lover and brought pressure on her to go for abortion.

Though initially, she agreed, later she declined, following which they killed her and told everyone that their daughter died of heart attack, the police official said. When a police team went to their house and insisted on a post-mortem after noticing some marks on her body indicating a struggle, the parents tried to stop it, saying there was no need.

Later, police shifted the body to a hospital where a post-mortem revealed the woman was "throttled to death". Her parents during interrogation confessed to killing their daughter, the official said, adding they were arrested.

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