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Tag Archives: Maharashtra
Brother in Maharashtra Honor Killing Beheads Pregnant Sister With a Sickle While Mother Holds Her Down
A pregnant 19-year-old woman in India was allegedly decapitated with a sickle by her younger brother, who then posed for a selfie with her severed head along with their mother.
The horrific murder—deemed an honor killing after the woman eloped with her fiance without her family’s consent—took place in the western Indian state of Maharashtra on Sunday, according to the BBC. Both the young man, identified as Sanket Mote, and the pair’s mother, identified as Shobhabai Mote, have been arrested in connection with the murder of the woman, named Kirti Avinash Thore.
“Kirti was preparing tea when Sanket attacked her from behind with a sickle while the mother caught her daughter’s legs,” Kailash Prajapati, Assistant Police Commissioner, SDPO Vaijapur told local media. “He beheaded her and brought the head outside the house. We suspect that the mother and son took a selfie with her head. We have sent the phone to the forensic lab to try and retrieve the photo. The duo then left on the bike.”
Local media reports suggest that the woman’s mother and brother came to visit the couple ostensibly to reconcile, but when her newlywed husband left the room to give them privacy, the pair allegedly killed her. The husband reportedly fled the house out of fear he might also be killed.
It is unclear if the sickle was in the house or if the mother and son had concealed it with intent to use it.
Indian news agency ANI says the 38-year-old mother and her 18-year-old son dragged the victim’s head out of the house and put it on display in front of neighbors, apparently admitting to the crime.
The man told police that his sister failed to secure consent before marrying her boyfriend last June. She had become estranged from her family since the elopement but her mother visited her a week before she was killed, at which time she learned her daughter was pregnant.
She and her son returned a week later and allegedly carried out the horrific murder.
India rape: Girl, 16, raped by ‘hundreds of men’ in Maharashtra state
In a statement to India’s Child Welfare Committee (CWC) on November 11, the girl, who was homeless, said she was raped by 400 people in Beed district of Maharashtra state, according to CWC chairman Abhay Vitthalrao Vanave. She named two policemen in her complaint, Vanave said.
The girl was begging for money at a bus stop when she was allegedly forced into sex work by three men, Vanave said.
While the number of alleged rapists would be difficult to corroborate, the girl could identify at least 25 alleged perpetrators, he added.
The girl had attempted to file a police complaint against a man she accused of beating her up, but officers did not register it, Vanave said.
When contacted by CNN Monday, Beed police did not comment on the girl’s allegations against them.
In a statement Monday, the force said it had registered cases against eight males — including one minor — pertaining to rape and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences law, which has more severe sentences of longer jail time. They have also registered a case under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.
The girl told police she was married off at age 13 to a 33-year-old man who sexually abused her, according to the police statement.
She also told police she was sexually assaulted by her father, ultimately prompting her to leave both homes and sleep at the bus stop.
Women’s rights activist Yogita Bhayana said this was “the most tragic (rape) case in history.”
“This girl was tortured every single day,” she said, adding that police had failed to protect her. “We want strict action against all culprits.”
India’s rape crisis
According to India’s National Crime Records Bureau, more than 28,000 cases of alleged rape against women were reported in 2020 — one roughly every 18 minutes. Experts believe the real number is much higher as many go unreported out of fear.
The number of reported rapes rose in the years following the brutal 2012 gang rape and murder of a student in India’s capital, New Delhi, potentially because of greater awareness surrounding the issue since. Experts say the outrage has helped to lift the shame around discussing rape.
Legal reforms and more severe penalties for rape were introduced in the aftermath, which include fast-tracking courts to hear rape cases more swiftly, and an amended definition of rape to include anal and oral penetration.
However, high-profile rape cases continue to make headlines. In September this year, police arrested 33 men for the alleged gang rape of a 15-year-old girl in Maharashtra.
In a separate case that month, a woman died after she was allegedly raped and assaulted with an iron rod in Mumbai. And in August this year, a 9-year-old girl was gang-raped and murdered in Delhi.
This story has been updated to accurately reflect the charges filed.