Bengaluru: Father-in-law assaults woman, husband films it all

Bengaluru: A woman professional employed at a multinational company was allegedly assaulted and abused in broad daylight by her in-laws, while her husband allegedly videographed the incident in Sadashivanagar police station limits last Sunday.

Interestingly, an unknown person also shot a video of the assault from a nearby building and this has come in handy for the victim.

The woman alleged that when she approached the jurisdictional police station, they refused to register an FIR. The woman then had to run from pillar to post, and the next day she managed to register an FIR at Women’s police station at Basavangudi , under Dowry Prohibition Act 1951, (under sections 3,4,), IPC 1860 (34, 498A).

To add to her misery, by the time the police swing into action, the accused, identified as Sanu Thomas, the victim’s husband, Thomas Kutty P.J., her father-in-law and her mother-in-law, secured anticipatory bail.    

In her complaint to the Women’s Police Station, she said that the assault took place on the road.

The complainant had gone to meet her in-laws and husband after she learnt that her husband had filed for  divorce in a family court and had met their son in her absence.

“As I went to confront my in-laws and husband after the mass on Sunday, my father-in-law slapped me and assaulted me right outside the church on the busy road. No one came for help, while my husband stood afar and videographed it,” she told Deccan Chronicle.  

She continued, “I was in a state of shock and they left me at the spot. I went to Sadashivnagar police station where the Inspector after being told about the incident, refused to register a First information report. He stated that as the husband has filed for divorce in the family court, they won’t take my complaint and only issued a non-cognizable report. He didn’t even bother to call the accused or follow up on the incident. I then approached Basvanagudi Women’s police station the next day and registered an FIR.”

The complainant said that last Saturday she came to know about that a divorce petition has been filed by her husband, who works in Dubai.

“I was shocked to see Sanu in the city as I was under the impression that he is in Dubai. However, he was living right across the street with his parents and had initiated the divorce proceedings without informing me.”

She continued, “I came to know about the same when I was called in the court on Saturday and saw him, after a long time, inside the courtroom.” According to the complainant, on April 28, the husband filed for divorce.

According to the FIR registered, soon after the marriage Sanu and his father used to frequently assault her with belts. Unable to put up with this, she moved to her parent’s house.

Later Sanu and his father approached them and apologised. However, they continued to torture them.

As per the FIR, Sanu has been accused of abandoning his wife and child and moving to Dubai.

When contacted Sathyavati, the investigation officer, said, “Before we could arrest the accused, they had already applied for anticipatory bail. However, we are still investigating the matter and at this point nothing more can be revealed.”