Thane man tortures woman with hot tawa after raping, forcibly marrying her
The accused had befriended the 27-year-old victim on Facebook 2021, following which he allegedly took her to a lodge and raped her.
A 38-year-old man from Maharashtra's Thane district allegedly raped a woman he befriended on social media, blackmailed her to marry him and burnt her with hot 'tawa' and cigarette buts, police said on Tuesday.
The police have registered an FIR against the accused and five of his family members, including his mother, based on a complaint filed by the victim, news agency PTI reported.
The accused, an Ulhasnagar resident, befriended the victim on Facebook in 2021, and that is when the entire ordeal began. An official from the Vitthalwadi police station said he later took her to a lodge and raped her.
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Citing the 27-year-old's complaint, the official said the accused filmed her in an objectionable manner and threatened to upload it online if she rejected his advances.
The accused reportedly raped her on multiple occasions.
Later, the victim was forced to marry the man and move to Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior with him and his mother, the report said. The ordeal didn't stop there. The accused and his mother cut the victim's hair and her eyebrows and held her captive in the house.
He also allegedly singed the victim with cigarette ends and even hit her with a hot 'tawa' along with his mother, causing severe injuries on the victim's body.
The police official went on to say that the accused snatched her Aadhaar and PAN cards as well as bank passbooks, misusing them to avail loans.
The 38-year-old and his family even demanded that the victim sought for money from her father, threatening to upload her video online if she failed to do so.
The victim on Sunday filed a police complaint, based on which a case was registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including 64 (2) (m) (repeated rape), 74 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 75 (sexual harassment), 87 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage, etc), 118(2) (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and 308(5) (extortion).
The official said no arrest has been made in this regard so far, and an investigation is underway.
Last week, a special POCSO court in Thane sentenced a man to 20-year rigorous imprisonment for raping his 8-year-old niece on multiple occasions in 2020.
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Judge VL Bhosale said there is no reason to award minimum sentence than prescribed to the 56-year-old accused, pronouncing him guilty under relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
In another shocking news from Thane earlier this month, a man accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting his neighbour's teen daughter was acquitted after the girl said she was now happily married to him, adding that there were no complaints.
The man had allegedly taken his neighbour's teenage daughter to various places in January 2019, following which he was first booked for kidnapping.
Later, he was arrested on charges under the POCSO act, which were added to the FIR registered against him.
The girl had told the court during the trial that he never used force on her and that whatever happened between them was consensual. She also claimed to be 18 years of age at the time and aware of the implications of her actions.
(with PTI inputs)
