Man rapes daughter-in-law, sets her on fire in Odisha

BARIPADA: In a shocking incident, a 55-year-old man has been detained by police for allegedly raping his daughter-in-law and trying to kill her by setting her on fire at Bazarsahi under Ward no-5 on Saturday. The accused has been identified as Ram Gopal Khemka.

READ | Odisha: Woman set on fire after rape by father-in-law dies

Rairangpur SDPO Amulya Kumar Dhir said as per the complaint filed by the woman’s father Dilip Kumar Agarwal, Khemka had raped his daughter-in-law after finding her alone in their house on Friday evening. After committing the crime, Khemka set her on fire. Locals rushed to the spot on seeing smoke billowing from the house and found the 22-year-old woman engulfed in flames.

They rushed her to Rairangpur hospital but as her condition deteriorated, she was shifted to a hospital in Jamshedpur with 95 per cent burn injuries. The SDPO said as per the complaint, the woman was repeatedly sexually exploited by her father-in-law for the last few months.

During the preliminary investigation, it was found that the woman had recently disclosed the matter to her husband Abinash and also sent a Whatsapp message to her brother, who lives at Badagaon village in Sundargarh district, the SDPO said. But, the assaults only increased after the disclosure.

“We informed the woman’s parents about the incident after she was admitted to hospital, following which they rushed to Rairangpur,” the SDPO added. Her family members reportedly caught hold of Khemka and thrashed him before handing him over to the police.  A case under Section 498(A), 506, 307, 376 and 34 of IPC has been registered against Khemka. His son Abinash, daughter Payal and wife Sunita are absconding. The woman was married to Abinash about two and a half years ago and ever since she was being physically and mentally exploited by her in-laws, her parents said.