The Bombay police arrested a 53-year-old High Court lawyer for allegedly forcing a 17-year-old girl into marriage and raping her, The Indian Express reported on Friday.
The complainant, who used to live with her grandparents in Sangli in western Maharashtra, told the police that she had been living with her “husband”, whose wife reportedly passed away in 2014, and his 15-year-old daughter since July and was being abused. Her grandparents allegedly forced her to marry him for six acres of land, Hindustan Times reported.
The girl’s grandparents tried to set up the match in 2015, when she was in Class 9. She, however, told them that she wanted to study further and refused to get married. However, during vacation, relatives took the complainant to her parents’ home, who live in a nearby village, and forcibly got her engaged to the accused, she said.
The girl alleged that after the marriage was consummated, the accused started questioning her character and abusing her. After moving to Mumbai in July, he began assaulting her more, Hindustan Times reported.
“An FIR against the accused, the girl’s grandparents and relatives was filed by the Kalachowki police under IPC Sections 376 [rape], 323 [voluntarily causing hurt] and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act,” Dilip Ugale, the senior inspector at Kalachowki police station, told The Indian Express.
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