A sessions court recently sentenced a 33-year-old man to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment for repeatedly raping his 14-year-old sister-in-law. Judge V M Mohite convicted Mohammed Shaikh alias Bilal under IPC sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
Public prosecutor Kiran Rayakar had examined six witnesses who deposed
about the victim's age. The victim's sister gave her statement to the
police, corroborating her version. Persis Sidhva
from NGO Majlis, the watching advocate in the case, said, "The victim's
sister has a young son. If the case had resulted in an acquittal, he
would have stopped supporting her financially."
The victim's
sister was a divorcee and married Bilal in 2010. A month-and-a-half
after Bilal moved into their Sewri home, he would wake up the victim at
night and rape
her. He threatened that if she disclosed the incident to anyone, he
would divorce her sister. A few months later, the victim met a social worker and confided in her about her ordeal. The social worker informed the police. An FIR was registered in May 2012.
