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Mira Rd incest-rape trial yet to begin
The Mira Road man and his friend, who raped his two daughters repeatedly last year, are awaiting trial at the Thane Sessions Court.
The Mira Road man and his friend, who raped his two daughters repeatedly last year, are awaiting trial at the Thane Sessions Court.
The two were remanded to judicial custody in June last year, and are now in the Thane jail.
Exactly a year ago, a 21-year-old girl approached Mira Road police and complained that her father and his tantrik (witch doctor) friend had repeatedly raped and sexually abused her and her sister.
She said the tantrik, Hasmukh Rathod, who claimed to be an astrologer, had induced her father Kishore Chauhan into believing that having sexual relations with his daughters would help him prosper in his business.
The girl, thus abused since she was 12, mustered the courage to complain after she discovered that Rathod had turned his attention to her younger sister, who had just turned 15.
The older girl said her sister had been raped by Rathod once at his Andheri house.
The sisters lodged a complaint with Mira Road police on March 18, after which Chauhan and Rathod were arrested along with the girls’ mother, Anjana, who was a silent spectator.
In June, the police prepared a 100-page chargesheet against the three and presented it in court.
“The court granted bail to Anjana after the lawyer argued that she is a woman and cannot have raped the girls,” a police officer said.
Edgar Braganza, lawyer for the accused, said: “The trial has not yet begun”.
The girls, now trying to start life afresh, are living with their maternal uncle, and have changed their phone number and address.
Avisha S., a social worker from the non-governmental organisation, Desh Seva Samiti, has been in touch with the girls.
The social worker said the older daughter wanted to quit her studies and take over her father’s business while the younger girl was preparing for her CBSC exams.
“We had taken the responsibility of sponsoring their studies but after April, the girls disappeared and have not been in touch since,” said Avisha.
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