Man rapes wife over picture on cellphone

New Delhi: A 38-year-old wife was allegedly raped by her 42-year-old husband after her husband found a picture of her with another man on her mobile. The couples were married for 19 years. The accused husband has been arrested, said the police.

The accused works as a senior consultant with a travel agency. “The arrest was made on May 18 after we registered an FIR under IPC Sections 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural sex), 323 (causing hurt), 354 (B) (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and 506 (criminal intimidation), based on his wife’s statement. He has been sent to judicial custody for 14 days,” said DCP M.S. Randhawa.

According to the police, the 38-year-old woman, in her complaint, said she married the accused in 1999. The couple has two children. She alleged that they have a strained relationship and that he would assault her after consuming liquor and drugs in the presence of their children.

The woman further alleged that on several occasions, she requested her sister and her husband to intervene. They counselled her and temporarily sorted things out, the police said.

“A few months ago, she met a man from Ludhiana on a social networking site and they started chatting. After a few weeks, they exchanged numbers and she shared her ordeal with him. Two months ago, he came to Delhi and the two met. She invited him home for tea where he clicked a picture of them together on his phone,” said the police, citing woman’s complaint.

The police said, according to the woman’s statement, he sent her the picture on WhatsApp and she saved it. “Her husband found her picture when he was checking her phone and started questioning her. He grew angry after she said she had met the man online and that they were friends. He sent the picture to their relatives and then started beating her. He punched her in her eye, hit her head on the table, raped her and forced her to indulge in unnatural intercourse.”