A 34-year-old man was arrested in Mumbai for allegedly coercing a 16-year-old woman into marriage, sexually assaulting her a number of occasions and impregnating her twice, police mentioned Wednesday.
Police have additionally booked the mom and 20-year-old brother of the woman, who’s presently 18 years previous, underneath Prohibition of Youngster Marriage Act and Safety of Kids underneath Sexual Offences Act 2012 for allegedly facilitating the crime.
Based on police, the case was registered primarily based on a grievance by a police constable who, on November 10, obtained a name on the police station from a hospital.
The hospital authorities informed police that they’ve admitted a girl, who’s four-month pregnant and is married to a 34-year-old man, however they suspected that she was underage.
“The sufferer’s abdomen was aching and her blood strain had all of a sudden risen as a result of which the relations had rushed her to the hospital,” mentioned an officer investigating the case.
Whereas checking her Aadhaar card, the medical doctors on the hospital realised that she was a born in 2006, which meant she was a minor whereas getting married.
Nevertheless, her relations claimed that there was a printing error on the Aadhar card and that she was born in 2000.
“Because the hospital authorities didn’t consider them, they reported the matter to the police station following which a group was despatched there,” the officer added.
Throughout the course of the inquiry, the police officers learnt that the sufferer and the 34-year-old man bought married in February 2023 in a temple.
The sufferer conceived a baby by mid-2023 however she suffered a stillbirth following which applicable medicines had been offered to her after consulting a personal physician then.
“We are attempting to probe and discover out whether or not she suffered a stillbirth or the woman was compelled to bear an abortion at dwelling,” an officer added.
The police officers then talked about the incident of their station home dairy following which they initiated a probe and wrote to the native ward workplace of the BMC and her college authorities to determine her age.
“We procured the paperwork which confirmed that she was born on 2006 after which a case was registered on November 13 underneath related sections of the BNS, Safety of Kids underneath Sexual Offences Act and Prohibition of Youngster Marriage Act,” mentioned a senior police officer.
Police arrested the 34-year-old man early this week and he’s presently of their custody.
“Though we’ve booked her mom and brother within the case, we’re probing to determine their position within the crime and are attempting to know the explanation for coercing the woman into a baby marriage,” an investigator mentioned.
