Man ‘gifts’ daughter to friends, joins them in raping her

A man allegedly let his friends rape his 35-year-old daughter and later joined them in the gangrape in Sitapur district, about 70km from Lucknow. One of the three accused was arrested on Tuesday while the others are on the run. Police said the accused—in his late 50s—and his daughter were visiting a fair in Kamlapur. After attending the fair, the accused called his friend Maan Singh  to the spot. The men then convinced the woman to accompany them to the house of another friend, Meraj.

There, the woman’s father handed her over to the men and all three took turns to rape her. She was kept confined in Meraj’s house for the next 18 hours until she escaped on Monday evening, the police said. She narrated her ordeal to her mother and an FIR was registered the same day. Meraj was arrested on Tuesday while the woman’s father and Maan Singh are yet to be apprehended.

Sitapur SP Sureshrao A Kulkarni said the woman had been married off 16 years ago but returned to her maternal house within two years after a fight with her husband. In November 2017, her father had been banished from the village after allegations of an incestuous relationship between the father and daughter. “The father was arrested but got bail in February,” said Kulkarni.