Amid the same-sex marriage row, a shocking case of incestuous relationship has come to light from the Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh. Here a man killed his own son over his alleged relationship with his mother. Notably, while speaking against the same-sex marriage plea, the Solicitor General (SG) of India, Tushar Mehta also raised a similar concern.
This report comprises the cases of incest from the past which raise alarming questions and the laws meant to curb such crimes.
Before moving ahead read what the SG Tushar Mehta said in the court on April 27, 2023. He said, “Kindly visualise a situation five-year down the line, based on this very thing… a person is attracted to those who are mentioned in the degrees of prohibited relationship. Incest is not uncommon in the world and world over incest is prohibited….,” he said.
Few days back SG Tushar Mehta raised this question in front of the SC, what if people start demanding incest to be legalised.
Well, found a case from UP where one Shahid Ahmed killed his own son Mohd Gulfam over alleged relationship with his own mother. Report soon @eOrganiser pic.twitter.com/ArOIOUr8zx
— Subhi Vishwakarma (@subhi_karma) May 3, 2023
Giving an example, he said, suppose a person says he is attracted to his sister and they are consenting adults and claim the right of autonomy, freedom of choice and right of doing something in the private domain.
“Based on that very argument, I am posing a question to myself, can someone not challenge this definition itself? Why this restriction? Who are you to decide with whom I have my sexual orientation,” he said.
In a recent case from Uttar Pradesh a Muslim woman has given a complaint against her husband Shahid Ahmed accusing he has killed his son Mohammad Gulfam.
A First Information Report (number–55/2023) was registered at the Kotwali Dehat of the Bijnor district on March 5, 2023. As per the complaint, the victim alleged that her husband Shahid had killed her son, Gulfam with a knife. Following her complaint, a case under section 302 of the IPC was registered against Shahid.
Notably, on April 29, the Uttar Pradesh police arrested Shahid Ahmed son of Natthu Khan a resident of Hajipur area of the district from Bijnor. The police also recovered the murder weapon, the accused had possession of the knife used for the crime.
During the police interrogation, the accused Shahdi admitted to the charges and said, he suspected his son was having an illicit relationship with his own mother. He tried confronting them but failed as Gulfam and his mother would attack Shahid. Shahid wanted his wife to be with him only, however, she wished to live with the children.
Following his wife’s refusal to live with him, Shahdi called Gulfam to Hajipur village, where they had a small fight and Gulfan began abusing him. Raged with disrespect, Shahid took out the knife and stabbed his own son. The boy was taken to the hospital where the doctors declared him dead.
Cases from the past
Notably, this is not the only case of incest, a number of cases have been reported in the past from time to time.
In March this year, Organiser reported a case from Gujarat, where a man identified as Mustafa Hanibhai alias Babubhai Miyana raped his 11-year-old stepdaughter. A case was later registered and a special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012) bench at Nadiad awarded him a death sentence.
Similarly, a case was reported in January this year from Hyderabad. Here, A 45-year-old man was arrested by police for raping his 14-year-old stepdaughter. The crime came to the fore after doctors found that the minor was pregnant. The girl revealed the heinous crime she had been a part of, adding that she is the only child of her parents and her mother passed away in 2013 due to ill health. Since then, her stepfather was raping her.
Similarly, a case was reported from Kerala this year. The accused, a Madarsa teacher raped and impregnated his own 15-year-old daughter. A Kerala court sentenced the man to three life terms, for the remainder of his life. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 6.6 Lakh on the accused.
In 2022, a man in Vizag raped his 15-year-old daughter for spending too much time on the phone. Police said that the father, angry because the girl spent too much on her phone, raped her. He allegedly raped her multiple times.
In another case from 2022, a 21-year-old Pune boy impregnated his own sister who was studying in class 12. The accused was booked under charges of sexual abuse and POCSO on the victim’s complaint.
In March, A minor 16-year-old boy from Haryana sexually assaulted his mentally challenged 18-year-old sister and impregnated her. This shocking incident was revealed when Child Helpline NGO authorities were alerted by someone.
In February 2019, a man was arrested for allegedly raping his minor sister for three years in Delhi. The girl is now 17 years old, and it was discovered that his 24-year-old brother made her pregnant. After realizing her pregnancy, this man gave her abortion pills. House residents of this girl, where she used to work in place of her mother as domestic help, noticed her injuries, and after some inquiry and knowledge on this incident, they filed a report against him. He is believed to be a sweeper working in a private bank in Dwarka, Delhi.
In 2018 at Coimbatore, A youth in his 20s allegedly had his younger teen sister studying in the ninth standard while pursuing his diploma over a year, resulting in her pregnancy. This boy assaulted the girl when their parents were away, and the incident was revealed by the girl’s school teacher, who suspected her pregnancy and later admitted her to the hospital when confirmed. After that, the girl narrated the incident, and the boy was booked, under POCSO Act.
In May 2016, a similar case happened where a minor victim was raped multiple times by her then-17-year-old brother, who got out of the juvenile home. He was earlier booked, for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy before. During her counselling session, she admitted to being raped by his brother for the first time during April (1 month ago) but didn’t inform anyone of her fear of his brother’s threat. He threatened her saying that he would tell the parents that she had been meeting boys secretly.
In 2015 a case was reported from Mumbai where the police arrested a mother and her two sons. While the younger daughter was raped by her two brothers for the past two months, the elder sister, who was also a minor, was raped for four years, the police said. What was shocking is that the mother silenced the girls by inflicting injuries on them when they complained about their sexual abuse.
In 2013, the Malwani police arrested a 50-year-old man, who had allegedly raped his daughter, who was then 26, for 12 years. The police said the victim also gave birth to a child, eight years ago, whose biological father was the accused.
In 2010, a case was reported from Magharwada village of Rajkot. A married woman from Magharwada village in Rajkot wrote to the Police Commissioner to register a complaint of rape against her father. The 24-year-old woman alleged that her mother, two maternal uncles and grandfather had supported him, and had threatened to kill her if she revealed the incident.
In 2009, a case was reported from Mumbai where a 40-year-old taxi driver, was arrested for allegedly raping his teenage daughter. During the investigation, it was revealed that he was angry with his daughter because she was seeing a neighbour. He was afraid that she would go away with him.
Another shocking case of incest relationship was reported from Mumbai back in 2009. In this case, a 60-year-old man was held for raping his own daughter. The 21-year-old victim, who had been silent about the incident, mustered the courage to approach the police after her businessman-father attempted to rape her 15-year-old younger sister.
According to police, the husband and wife were under the influence of the occultist, who told them in July 2000 that the family would prosper if the father were to have a sexual relationship with his elder daughter, who was then 12.
The laws to curb incest in India
According to “The Incest Offences Bill, 2009” the term close family members include members of a victim’s family by birth and include a parent or grandparent of either sex, a child or other lineal descendent, brother or sister that includes half-brother and half-sister.
The laws regulating incest in India are:
- The Incest Offences Bill, 2009.
- The Incest and the Sexual Abuse in Family (offences) Bill, 2010.
- The Incest Offences Bill, 2012.
- Trails for Incest will be carried in accordance with the provisions of “code of Criminal Procedure, 1973”
- The Hindu Marriage Act, of 1955
- The Muslim Marriage Act
- The Special Marriage Act, of 1954
- Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012
As per the Hindu Marriage Act:
Section 5 (4) of the act prohibits marriages where the partners fall under the degree of prohibited relationship. Prohibited relations include the lineal ascendant of another. For example, a son cannot marry his mother or grandmother, a father-in-law cannot marry his daughter-in-law, or a marriage between uncle and niece, an Aunt and nephew, or siblings children fall under the category of prohibited relationship.
Section 5(5) prohibits the marriage of Sapindas. Sapinda relations include common ancestor relatives within 3 generations above the mother’s side of the family and 5 generations above on the father’s side of the family.
However, if customs allow for such marriages, they are not void marriages.
According to the Muslim Marriage Act:
Muslims do not marry persons within blood relations. Such marriages are considered prohibited degree not allowed to marry. Hence marrying a daughter [even stepdaughter or foster daughter], aunt, nephew, niece, or uncle is prohibited in a Muslim marriage.
According to the special marriage Act:
Section 2(b) of the Act defines the prohibited relationship. The list of prohibited relationships is mentioned in Schedule 1(part 1 for men and part 2 for women). Marriage by half or uterine blood as well as full blood, illegitimate blood relationship as well as legitimate, and relationship by adoption as well as by blood are all void marriages.
