CHENNAI: A 37-year-old IT employee, who forced his young wife to abort twice before attempting to make her undergo a sterilisation procedure, has been sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment (RI) by a Mahila Court here. The man’s father and mother, both senior citizens, too, were convicted and awarded one year jail term.
P Rajamahalingam, who works in an information technology company at Velachery, married Manimekalai (20) on March 23, 2009. By then, he was married and divorced twice, and had the custody of his two-year-old girl child from his second marriage. To persuade Manimekalai’s father, who was reluctant to agree for the marriage, Rajamahalingam transferred a house he owned in her name, claiming that it would safeguard her adequately.
Later, Manimekalai conceived. When she was five months pregnant, Rajamahalingam caused her to miscarry, without her consent, by mixing some medicine in tea. He intimidated her parents who visited her, and soon after, re-transferred the title of the house, which he had registered in her name, back to his name. In 2011, Manimekalai conceived again. Arguing that the life of his child would be affected if Manimekalai gives birth, Rajamahalingam insisted that she abort this pregnancy as well. She finally had to give in to his demand, and on March 23, 2011, she was taken to a hospital at Velachery where the pregnancy was terminated.
Subsequently, to find a permanent solution to prevent her from getting pregnant, he took her to Madurai on July 30, 2011, under the pretext of visiting a temple there. While in Madurai, he forcibly took her to a hospital in Bethaniyapuram and compelled her to undergo a sterilisation procedure. Manimekalai refused and managed to escape from the hospital. She filed a complaint against him with the help of her parents.
After final trial before Judge Meena Sathish on Tuesday, she said the charges against the accused persons were proved beyond doubt and convicted Rajamahalingam under IPC sections 498A (husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 313 (causing miscarriage without woman’s consent) to 10 years of RI and his parents, A K Paulraj (62) and P Dhanalakshmi (62), to one year jail term.