Indian father 'gifts' daughter to friends, gang rapes her

Woman, 35, was abused for 18 hours before she escaped to her mother's house

A man in India allegedly gifted his daughter to two friends and later joined them to gang-rape her.

According to police, the father took his 35-year-old daughter to a fair on April 15 where they met his friend, Maan Singh, a man with a criminal record, Times of India reported.



The men convinced her to ride on the back of a bike to another friend, Meraj's house in Lucknow. The 35-year-old woman was handed over to the men at Meraj's house where all three of them, including her father, gang raped her.

Police said the woman was locked in the house for the next 18 hours until she finally escaped on Monday evening to her mother's house. An FIR was registered on the same day with local police.

Meraj was arrested on Tuesday while the woman’s father and Singh are on the run.

Kamlapur Station House Officer (SHO) Sanjeet Sonkar said Meraj is in his early 40s and works as a quack in Kamlapur. “He claimed to be a medical practitioner but couldn’t produce a degree,” SHO Sonkar added.



Meanwhile, Sitapur Superintendent of Police (SP) Sureshrao A Kulkarni said, “The woman had been married off 16 years ago but returned to her maternal house within two years of marriage after a feud with her husband.”

He added that in November 2017, the woman’s father had been banished from the village following allegations of an incestuous relationship between him and the daughter.

“A panchayat was called and the father was arrested. He got bail in February this year,” following which the woman started staying separately with her 14-year-old child, said Kulkarni.

This article first appeared on the Times of India.