Mumbai man arrested for marrying, raping 15-year-old after she delivers baby

Mangalore Today News Network

Mumbai, Dec 22, 2021: A 27-year-old man from Mumbai has been arrested for allegedly marrying a 15-year-old girl and raping her several times. The mother of the girl, the parents of the accused, and the cleric who solemnised the marriage were booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.

 

The incident came to the fore on Friday, when the 15-year-old girl delivered a baby at JJ Hospital in Mumbai. According to the police, the child marriage was solemnised in January. “Before delivering the baby, when the doctors at the hospital asked for the mother’s age, her husband and in-laws said that she was 20 years old,” an officer said.

However, her real age was revealed when the doctors sought to check the 15-year-old girl’s Aadhaar card, which showed that she was born in June 2006. The doctors immediately informed the Agripada police, as the wedding had been solemnised under its jurisdiction. The case was registered on Sunday.

“Late last year, as the mother was not in a position to take care of her daughter financially, she stopped her education and got her married to the accused,” said the officer. The girl has studied till Class V, he added. “As the husband and his parents knew that she was minor but still went ahead with the wedding, they were named in the case,” said the officer.

The girl was repeatedly raped when she started staying at the man’s Sewri house after the wedding in January. The wedding was solemnised in the presence of the girl’s mother, her ‘in-laws’ and a cleric. “After she conceived, she was taken to JJ hospital multiple times for check-ups, but they always lied that she was an adult,” said the officer.

Although Senior Inspector Shriram Koregaonkar of Agripada police station confirmed the arrest, he refused to give out further details in the case. The man was produced in court on Monday and remanded to police custody till December 24.

Courtesy:India Today