A 27-year-old woman has filed a complaint with the Malad police, alleging that her husband and in-laws physically assaulted her, leading to two miscarriages. The assaults were reportedly connected to unfulfilled dowry demands, despite the woman's family already providing a dowry worth ₹9.55 lakh. Meanwhile, she also accused her husband of sexually abusing her 6-year-old son by exposing him to explicit content and coerced into sexual acts like forced oral sex, while the mother-in-law threatened the boy with circumcision.
According to the FIR, the incidents occurred between July and December 2023. The victim, Raziya (name changed), a Malad resident, married the accused, Moshin Shaikh, in July after her first divorce. The accused family members include her husband, mother-in-law Gulnaz Shaikh, and father-in-law Yasin Shaikh.
Speaking to the Free Press Journal, Raziya said that before marriage discussions began, she had informed the Shaikh family about her 6-year-old son from her previous marriage, and they had initially accepted it. During the wedding, Raziya alleges that her family spent lakhs of rupees and even gave dowry money as demanded. However, after the marriage, Raziya said she was subjected to taunts by her in-laws, who also demanded additional money.
“Immediately after the marriage, my husband would force me into oral sex which I consistently refused. He would also demand for anal sex and at times, he would come home drunk and force himself on me. When I sought help from my mother-in-law, she advised me to comply with his demands to keep the marriage harmonious," said Raziya, who added that she suffered two miscarriages as a result of the emotional and physical trauma inflicted by her husband and in-laws.
Following her miscarriages, her doctor advised against engaging in sexual activities. However, she alleged in her statement to the police that her husband continued to force himself on her despite this advice.
When she resisted sexual contact, Raziya said that her husband showed pornographic videos to her son which traumatized the minor boy. This incident was followed by her mother-in-law and husband - manhandling the boy, “as a joke” they said, pulled the skin off his penis, threatening with circumcision. Raziya said she tried to manage the situation by yelling at them in an attempt to address the issue. However, in October 2023, while she was working in the kitchen, she saw her husband enter the bedroom where the minor boy was present and lock the door behind him. Despite banging on the door, Raziya said her husband only opened it after 10 minutes. The boy, sobbing, told the mother that his father forced his private part in his mouth, suggesting aggravated oral sex.
After the incident, Raziya took her son and returned to her home. However, due to her second miscarriage, she was not in a condition to approach the police immediately. On September 2, she filed an FIR against her husband and in-laws.
The Malad police have booked all three individuals under various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, including Sections 6 (penetrative sexual assault) and 12 (sexual harassment), as well as the Dowry Act. Additionally, they face charges under the Indian Penal Code, including Sections 498A (cruelty by husband or his relatives), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 506 (criminal intimidation), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 500 (defamation), 377 (unnatural sex), and 34 (common intention), among others.
Ravindra Adane, Senior Police Inspector at Malad police station, said, “The primary accused, Moshin, is absconding. We have discovered that he left the country after the FIR was registered and is reportedly in Saudi Arabia. We have issued a lookout circular and are trying to trace him. His parents have been booked under sections which have a punishment of less than seven years hence as per Supreme Court guidelines, we cannot arrest them. Instead, we have issued a notice to them under Section 35(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Sanhita, which recently replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The investigation is ongoing, and we expect to make progress soon."
