AN INCIDENT has surfaced in Morbi district, Gujarat, involving a labourer who “could not afford to pay rent” to his landlord and was allegedly forced to allow the latter to “have his way” with his wife and teenage daughter, a minor, police said on Friday.
The man (tenant) was arrested last month and the accused landlord held on Wednesday, while police are on the lookout for a third accused – a relative of the landlord.
The Investigation Officer (IO) said, “The landlord had intimate relations with the tenant’s wife and also raped the couple’s minor daughter with the tenant’s permission.
However, after three months’ rent had piled up, the tenant and landlord reached the “agreement”.
While the tenant was arrested around April 28, the landlord was arrested on May 14 and is now in judicial custody, said the inspector.
AN INCIDENT has surfaced in Morbi district, Gujarat, involving a labourer who “could not afford to pay rent” to his landlord and was allegedly forced to allow the latter to “have his way” with his wife and teenage daughter, a minor, police said on Friday. The man (tenant) was arrested last month and the accused landlord held on Wednesday, while police are on the lookout for a third accused – a relative of the landlord.
The accused were booked on charges of rape and its abetment and under sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) on the basis of a complaint filed by the woman’s mother.
Investigators told The Indian Express on Friday that the tenant did not have enough employment to pay his house rent, which was Rs 1,000-1,500, leading to him allegedly making an oral agreement with the landlord to “have his way” with his wife and daughter.
The Investigation Officer (IO) said, “The landlord had intimate relations with the tenant’s wife and also raped the couple’s minor daughter with the tenant’s permission. The accrual of rent and his inability to pay it led to him making this arrangement.”
The family first rented this house a few months ago and then left to live somewhere else, but returned to this house recently. However, after three months’ rent had piled up, the tenant and landlord reached the “agreement”.
The IO said, “When the family went back to live there, the landlord asked the tenant to pay what he could afford and give him permission to sexually assault the tenant’s wife and daughter.”
Asked how the case had reached the police, the IO said, “The police learnt through confidential sources that such an arrangement had been made. So we began questioning people associated with the family. Meanwhile, the tenant began moving to other places and sent his daughter with some relatives in a bid to evade the police.”
Story continues below this ad
During the course of the preliminary inquiry, the police also reached the home of the minor’s maternal grandmother in another district, who did not know about these circumstances in her daughter’s marital home. Ultimately, she became the complainant in the case and the FIR was filed on April 24, said the inspector of the jurisdictional police station. The landlord and his relative/aide were booked for rape under BNS and under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, while the minor’s father was booked for abetting the same.
The police have taken the statement of the minor.
While the tenant was arrested around April 28, the landlord was arrested on May 14 and is now in judicial custody, said the inspector. Further investigation is underway, the officer added.
