Man Lets Friends Gangrape Wife After Losing Bet, Pours Acid To 'Purify' Her

KEY POINTS

The 30-year-old woman was kept in hiding by the man’s parents
The victim has sustained burn injuries from the acid
She escaped from her inlaws' house and reached her own home to seek help

A man from Bhagalpur district, Bihar wagered his wife while gambling and let his friends gangrape her after he lost the bet.

The woman was forced to have sex with the men and when she resisted the attempt, her husband splashed acid on her in a bid to “purify” her, said sources to IANS, as cited by News18.

The accused, Sonu Harijan, was taken into custody and a case has been registered against him, said Rajesh Kumar Jha, the station house officer of Mozahidpur police station.

"Due to the sensitivity of the incident, we have immediately registered an FIR (First Information Report) and arrested the accused. Further investigation is underway and other accused will be arrested if they are found to be involved in this case," Jha said.

Harijan told the police in a statement that he had lost the gamble a month back and according to the "commitment" he had with his friends, the 30-year-old woman had to be “handed over” to the winners for a month. However, she refused to go along with them.

"We are studying the statement of the victim and have arrested the accused. He has confessed that he lost his wife in a bet and also forced her to have sexual relations with his gambler friends," Jha said.

To hide the incident, Harijan’s parents held the victim captive in a house in Mozahidpur, despite her acid burn injuries, which they treated with first aid.

The horrific incident came to light when the woman succeeded to escape from her in-laws' house and reached her father’s home in Lodipur, seeking his help. Her parents immediately took her to the police station.

According to Bihar Crime Records Bureau, more than 950 cases of rape have been recorded in the state until August this year. Meanwhile, the National Crime Records Bureau has cited that 98.4 percent of rape incidents (718) in Bihar that happened in 2019 against women have been done by offenders often known to the victim and the unknown offenders are just 12 cases. There has been an increase of 34.6 percent in the crime rate in Bihar over the past 15 years, cited NCRB as reported by The Quint.