Odisha: Husband gambles wife, watches her getting raped by 'winner'
A 35-year-old woman was allegedly raped after her husband used her as a pawn in gambling and lost. The incident happened on May 23, in Balikuti village of Odisha's Balasore. After losing the woman in a gamble, her husband helped the accused gag her and watched him raping her, she alleged. The police nabbed the husband and the accused on Tuesday night.
Husband took wife to village pond, helped man rape her
The victim's husband, who works as a laborer in Hyderabad, took her to a village pond on the fateful day. The accused Abhiram Dalai, to whom her husband lost the gamble, was waiting there. With the husband's help, the accused gagged and raped her. She was threatened by the duo to not speak of it to anyone.
Woman decided against filing a complaint but later stood up
Police officials said a village meeting was convened but no decision could be reached. On May 28, the woman approached the police for the first time accompanied by her husband and other villagers. She said she reached a compromise with the accused and won't register a complaint. A day later, the victim, a mother of two, returned and registered a police complaint.
Are women safe in Odisha? Sadly, not
Last year, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik revealed the number of rape cases reported in 2016-17 was 1,621. The state saw an alarming rise in child rape cases. In Bhubaneswar alone, the child rape cases went up by 70% in 2018, the NIE reported.
