UP woman gangraped in Thane; husband arrested 

Thane: A 24-year-old woman from Uttar Pradesh was allegedly gangraped by two of her husband’s relatives here and the accused tried to push her into flesh trade, police said. One person has been arrested in this connection.

One of the accused, Kanha Thakur alias Rohit Gulab Singh, from Nalla Sopara in the neighbouring Palghar district, befriended the victim on Facebook and later on WhatsApp.

After some time, he threatened to upload on Facebook the pictures that she had sent to him and forced her to continue the friendship. Later, he also threatened to commit suicide if she refused to marry him, police said. He then brought her from Pratapgarh in UP to Dombivili in Thane and married her on April 20 this year. However, when the victim was alone at a relative’s home in Dombivili, Rohit’s paternal uncle Ramesh Singh allegedly raped her, police inspector Sukhada Narkar said.

When the victim complained about it to Ramesh’s wife Anita Singh, she, instead of protecting her, warned her against revealing it to anyone and threatened to throw acid on her, the complainant said.

The woman then reported the matter to her husband but he also supported the accused and asked her to get Rs 5 lakh from her parents or else abide by what they tell her to do. After a couple of days, Ramesh Singh and his sister’s husband Rajesh Singh allegedly gangraped the woman in her house, Narkar said.

The victim again complained to her husband about the sexual harassment. To this, Anita apparently told the victim that she was not brought here to be made a heroine in films, and that they will use her for sex trade and earn money.

Later, Rohit tried to push her into flesh trade. When she refused, she was brought back home and beaten up and then thrown out of the house, police said.

Based on the victim’s complaint filed on Friday, Rohit was arrested yesterday and a search has been launched to nab the others accused.

The accused have been charged under sections 376 (rape), 376(d), 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504, 506 (criminal intimidation) read with 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC, police added.

PTI