Mumbai: Woman ‘stripped, slashed, beaten’ by kin over Rs 21 lakh loan

A 43yearold woman from Kandivli was allegedly lured to a house in Vasai stripped brutally assaulted and filmed by her brotherinlaw and his family over a R21lakh debt dispute The accused not only inflicted serious injuries but also circulated a video of the assault to shame and silence her prompting a police investigation after the footage reached the victimrsquos husbandAccording to sources the victim was stripped beaten burned with a hot iron on her private parts had her hair chopped off with scissors and her face slashed with a blade To further humiliate her the accused filmed the assault and circulated the video among relatives and friendsOut of fear and shame the victim stayed silent for four days The incident came to light only after her husband received the video and confronted her He is reportedly in a state of emotional shockScreengrab from the video showing the woman assaulting the victimA case has been registered but the accused have absconded after locking up their home in VasaiThe 43yearold victim a Kandivli resident lives with her husband and six children She has accused her brotherinlaw her husbandrsquos sisterrsquos husband and his second wife of orchestrating the assault and injuring her grievouslySpeaking to midday at her home the visibly traumatised victim said she was locked up for nearly two hours ldquoWhat I experienced cannot be put into wordsrdquo she saidShe explained that her husband had sold their Charkop house Her brotherinlaw learning about it asked for R21 lakh to repay a loan assuring them it would be returned once he sold a piece of land in his village ldquoSince he was family we discussed it and agreed to help We handed over R21 lakh including R13 lakh by chequerdquo she saidHowever when her family needed the money to buy a new house the accused began avoiding them ignoring calls and eventually blocking their numbersDuring Ramzan when her motherinlaw was hospitalised they requested help againmdashbut in vain ldquoWe couldnrsquot get her treated properly due to lack of funds and she passed awayrdquo said the victim ldquoWe were forced to live in a rented house The stress took a toll on my husband who is a heart patientrdquoOn April 5 her brotherinlaw asked them to come to Vasai to collect the money Since her husband was unwell she went alone the next day ldquoWhen I reached he asked me to come to his home The windows were shut the house was extremely hot I freshened up and was sitting in the bedroom when someone suddenly pulled my hair from behindrdquoThe attacker was the brotherinlawrsquos second wife who dragged her to the hall and accused her of having an affair ldquoShe began beating me My brotherinlaw and his daughter recorded the entire attackrdquoShe said the woman called for scissors and attempted to kill her ldquoI held the scissors tightly trying to stop her But she pinned me down kicked and punched me and cut off my hair Then she stripped me and slapped me on my private parts while my brotherinlaw filmed everythingrdquoThe brotherinlaw later slashed her face with a blade ldquoI tried to escape but the main door was locked Blood was all over the floor and they panicked They eventually took me to a private clinic where a doctor stitched my woundrdquoThe accused threatened her to stay silent instructing her to claim the injuries were due to an accident ldquoEven at the clinic I was told not to speak The doctor grew suspicious but they told him a glass shard had fallen during a cricket gamerdquoShe said her brotherinlaw threatened to leak the video if she spoke up ldquoBefore letting me go they formatted my phone so I couldnrsquot call for help and also snatched my gold chain and earringsrdquoVictims husband speaksThe victimrsquos husband told midday ldquoWhen I first saw her injury she claimed it was an accident But on April 9 I got a call from relatives who had seen the video When I confronted her she broke down and told me everythingrdquoHe immediately filed a complaint at Charkop police station which was transferred to Valiv Police Station in Vasai East for further investigationldquoThis incident has shattered our dignityrdquo he said ldquoThey even sent relatives to threaten us Wersquove now learned theyrsquove allegedly done this to others toomdashtaking money luring people to their home assaulting them recording it and then blackmailing themrdquoHe added that his wife is suffering from depression after the circulation of the obscene video ldquoEven our children have seen it We donrsquot know how far this video will spread These people are a danger to society They must be punishedrdquoPolice actionDCP Zone 2 MBMC Purnima Chogle Shringi said ldquoThis is a zero FIR case transferred from Charkop to Valiv Police Station Our team visited the accusedrsquos residence but they are absconding I have instructed my officersmdashthey will not be sparedrdquoApril 5Day of assaultWhat is a MedicoLegal Case MLCldquoA medicolegal case MLC refers to a medical case that has legal implications and requires investigation by law enforcement authorities to determine the causeof injury or ailment and to assign responsibility as per the law These cases typically arise when an attending doctor upon examining a patient suspectsthat the nature of the injury or condition warrants legal scrutinyIf a doctor has any doubts after assessing the patientrsquos injuries or condition it becomes mandatory to inform the relevant investigative authorities This is considered part of the patientrsquos legal rights Failure by a doctor or hospital to report such cases to the concerned agencies can result in legal action against the medical professionals or the institution especially if a criminal act is later discovered in connection with the caserdquo said Dr Nitin Pawar from Mumbaibased multispeciality Oscar HospitalldquoIn cases where there is any suspicion doctors typically send an MLC MedicoLegal Case report to the policerdquo said Police Inspector Gorakhnath Jaid of Valiv police stationldquoHowever when the victim themselves explains the cause of the injury stating how it happened or even saying that they have no complaint against anyone and take responsibility for the injury doctors usually do not file an MLC In this particular case it appears that this might be what happenedmdashthe patient and her relatives informed the doctor about the injury which possibly led to the MLC not being filedrdquo the officer addedatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params