A 45-year-old man was sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment on Friday for putting "chastity lock" on his wife's private parts.
Sohan Lal Chouhan, a mechanic by profession, was arrested in Indore in July last year for keeping his wife's genitals locked for four years. The incident came to light when Chouhan's wife Sitabai was admitted to a hospital after trying to commit suicide by consuming rat poison. She attempted suicide after Chohan allegedly tried to rape their elder daughter.
When the doctors were trying to extract the poison by inserting a tube, they were shocked to see the "locked" genitals. Sitabai revealed to the police that in early 2008, her husband drilled holes on either side of her genitals after forcing her to eat opium to get the anesthetic effect. Every day, before going for work, her husband would insert the lock into her genitals as he suspected her of having extra-marital affair.
The cops recovered two sets of locks and keys as well as the needle reportedly used to drill holes into the genitals. Fourteen witnesses were presented before the court in connection with the case. Dr Vibha Moses, who attended the victim, told the court that she found the lock on the woman's private parts and that the victim revealed that her husband had locked her genitals.
According to the Public prosecutor Jyoti Tomar, of the 14 witnesses three including Chouhan's son and daughter had turned hostile. "However, the son admitted Chouhan hadn't allowed him to meet his mother in the last four years," Tomar said, according to The Times of India.
The victim retracted her statement during the trial, but the Special additional sessions judge A K Singh convicted the accused by relying on the doctor's statement and based on circumstantial evidence.
"Besides, the statements of the doctor who had removed the 'lock', the policeman who had recovered the key from Chouhan and an independent witness helped in nailing Chouhan."
The judge found Chouhan guilty under sections 326 (causing grievous hurt) and 498 A (subjecting married woman to cruelty) of the Indian Penal Code. He was sentenced to 10 years of jail term. The court also imposed a fine of ₹1,000 on Chouhan.
