A man of South African nationality in Bengaluru allegedly tortured his pregnant girlfriend and did not allow her to seek medical help when things became too dire.
The woman is said to be from Telangana and came to Bengaluru for work. Unable to take the torture any longer, she approached Parihar, a family counselling centre at Vanitha Sahayavani last week. She had injury marks all over her body, including over her abdomen.
She was allegedly locked up by the 26-year-old South African national who was forcing her to deliver the baby without medical assistance. She was five months pregnant when she escaped the clutches of the abusive man. She first went to her parents' place in Telangana but they threw her out after they learned for her pregnancy.
According to The Times of India, the victim is not the first woman he held captive and tortured. He previously tortured an Iranian woman in a similar fashion in Bengaluru. He denied her medical help while she was trying to deliver their child. Soon after giving birth, she left the city along with the baby.
Through the information provided by Parihar, the police discovered that the man (whose name is withheld) has overstayed his visa in the country. He met the victim during dinner in East Bengaluru, she fell in love and moved in with him last year. Things took a turn for the worse in January of this year when they found out that she was pregnant. After torturing her for four months, he declared to her that the child was not his.
"He used to kick her on the stomach and denied her medical treatment after she got pregnant. She didn't undergo any tests or scans to know if her fetus was healthy," Bindya Yohannan, the counsellor who tended to the victim, was quoted as saying by TOI.
The Foreigners Regional Registration office is now conducting an investigation and it has been discovered that the accused's visa expired a few years ago.
