A 23-year-old woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar was dumped by her husband after her father-in-law raped her. On July 5, the woman — who was seven months pregnant at that time — was alone at home when her 50-year-old father-in-law allegedly barged in, raped her, and threatened to kill her if she reported the matter, reported Times of India. In her police complaint, filed on September 7, the woman stated that when she told her husband about the assault, the latter said they could not live together any more.
“When I informed my husband about the assault he told me that since his father had established a relationship with me, we cannot stay together as I have now become his father’s wife,” the woman stated in her police complaint, as per the TOI report.
She also alleged that her husband thrashed her and threw her out of the house, adding that he refused to take her back even after she pleaded with him.
“I remained silent as I wanted to preserve my honour. Despite repeated pleas, my husband refused to take me back for no fault of mine. That’s why I decided to take legal action,” she said.
A case has been registered against both the father-in-law and the husband. The father-in-law has been booked under Sections 376 (rape) and 606 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code while the husband was booked under Section 323 (punishment for voluntarily casing hurt), Station House Officer Raghvandra Yadav told TOI.
2005 Imrana Rape Case
The case is similar case to the one that took place in Muzaffarnagar in 2005, grabbing nationwide attention. Imrana, a mother of five children, was raped by her father-in-law on June 6, 2005.
Following the incident, an edict was passed by the minority community panchayat that said Imrana would have to treat her husband as her son now, and that her marriage would be null and void.
On October 19, 2006, the District and Sessions court had held Ali Mohammed guilty of raping Imrana and sentenced him to 10-year prison term.
In July 2013, Ali Mohammed was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court on the ground that he has already spent eight years in jail since his arrest on June 13, 2005.
