A 30-year-old pregnant woman’s wrist was slit by her in-laws on April 16 with broken pieces of glass after she refused to abort her child, which a sorcerer allegedly said would be a girl, the police said after an FIR was lodged through a court order on Tuesday.
“The woman, now nine months pregnant, is a native of Punjab. Soon after she conceived, her in-laws took her to a sorcerer who claimed the foetus to be a girl, and predicted that she might get a boy the next time if she aborts the current one,” Station house officer of Muhana police station Gurbhupendra Singh said
According to the officials, her in-laws also tried to take her to the hospital forcibly on March 10 to abort the foetus. “They didn’t clinically determine the sex of the foetus. It was their assumption based on the sorcerer’s prediction. Yet, her husband, his parents, and brothers had constantly been beating her for a month and then slit her wrist on April 16 in an attempt to kill her,” the SHO said.
Following this, she left her in-laws’ place and went to the hospital alone for treatment, from where the doctors informed the police. “I was not appointed in this police station at the time. The then SHO and other cops had refused to lodge an FIR. Meanwhile, the victim’s mother also arrived in Jaipur from Punjab and they met the DCP (South) and approached the court to lodge an FIR. Based on the court’s direction, we lodged the FIR on Tuesday,” Singh said.
{{/usCountry}}Following this, she left her in-laws’ place and went to the hospital alone for treatment, from where the doctors informed the police. “I was not appointed in this police station at the time. The then SHO and other cops had refused to lodge an FIR. Meanwhile, the victim’s mother also arrived in Jaipur from Punjab and they met the DCP (South) and approached the court to lodge an FIR. Based on the court’s direction, we lodged the FIR on Tuesday,” Singh said.
{{/usCountry}}The FIR was registered under sections 61 (2), 60 (a), 90 (2), 91, 109 (1), 115 (2), 117 (3), 126 (2), 135, and 351 (3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
“Although she returned to Punjab after the treatment, she came back to her in-laws’ place a few months ago and is staying there currently. Further probe is underway and appropriate action will be taken against the culprits,” Singh said.