41-year-old woman alleges decade-long domestic abuse

Rajkot: A 41-year-old woman filed an FIR at Mahila police station against her husband, accusing him of physical abuse and mental harassment over more than a decade. The FIR details the sustained abuse, including an assault during her pregnancy that resulted in the premature birth and death of their child.According to the FIR, the couple married in Dec 2009. The complainant alleged that the abuse began early in the marriage after her husband developed a liquor habit and started picking fights over minor issues such as the cooking and household chores. The FIR describes one gruesome incident during her second month of pregnancy. After a dispute in which her mother-in-law allegedly taunted her, her husband is accused of attacking her in the kitchen with a hot cooking pan, causing severe burns and head injuries. Due to trauma, she went into premature labour in her seventh month, and the child died a few days after birth. The complainant further alleged that she discovered her husband's multiple affairs around 2016. When she confronted him, he allegedly denied the accusations and intensified the physical abuse. This led her to file cases for maintenance and domestic violence in 2018. Although a settlement was reached between the couple in Aug 2023, the husband's abusive behaviour continued. He reportedly pursued affairs, repeatedly questioned her character, and even sent a friend to stalk her while she attended yoga sessions. The FIR also cites financial harassment. The woman alleged that her husband stopped paying the EMIs on their home loan, leading to eviction notices and the eventual sealing of the house. She further alleged that he pressured her to pick fights with the finance company's recovery agents and file false complaints against them to get the loan waived. Exhausted by years of assault, character assassination, abusive video calls and slandering among their relatives, the woman said she repeatedly sought help through the police helpline before finally lodging the FIR under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 85 and 351.