Rajasthan woman tortured after 'failing virginity test', khap asks her family to pay Rs 10 lakh
Jaipur, Sep 5: A 24-year-old woman in Rajasthan's Bhilwara was allegedly forced to take a "virginity test" by her in-laws who thrashed her after she "failed" it, and called a panchayat that asked her family to pay Rs 10 lakh, police said Monday.
According to the case filed in the case on Saturday aginst her in-laws, the woman has alleged she was made to undergo the "test" on the first day of her marriage on May 11 in Bhilwara.
She alleged in the FIR her husband and his family assaulted her after she "failed" the "test", and that they convened the Khap panchayat at a local temple on May 31 which asked her family to pay Rs 10 lakh.
Police said the woman told her in-laws she had allegedly been raped by a neighbour sometime before her marriage and that a rape case was filed at Subhash Nagar police station.
Station House Officer (Bagor) Aayub Khan said the police investigated the matter after it was reported in the local media and a case was lodged against her in-laws on Saturday.
Mandal DSP Surendra Kumar said the woman is a victim of Kukadi Pratha, prevalent among the members of the Sansi nomadic community. "This is a social evil known as Kukadi Pratha in Rajasthan."
He said after the matter came to light, a "factual report was submitted and a case registered in the matter."
In a video clip, the victim purportedly says, "I failed in the rituals which were performed in the afternoon. Thereafter, discussions happened till late night. I did not say anything out of fear. Then I was beaten up by my husband and in-laws."
She says she told her in-laws the rape incident happened before the marriage.
Police said the accused have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 498A (dowry), 384 (extortion), 509 (insulting the modesty of woman) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) against the in-laws.
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Vasai couple killed in road accident while holidaying in Philippines
Palghar (PTI): A couple from Maharashtra's Palghar district was killed in an accident while vacationing in the Philippines, church authorities said on Tuesday.
Gerald Pereira (50) and his wife Priya (46) were riding a two-wheeler in Badian, Philippines, on May 10 when a truck hit them and they rammed into an electric police, the chief priest of St Thomas Church in Vasai said.
He said the Pereira couple resided in the Sandor area of Vasai.
Priya died on the spot, while Gerald sustained critical injuries and succumbed during treatment at a hospital in the Southeast Asian country.
The couple is survived by their son and teenage daughter. Further details regarding the repatriation of their remains were awaited, the church authorities stated.
