Representative image

MUMBAI: A 46-year-old city businessman was arrested on Tuesday after his 39-year-old wife accused him of indulging in “wife swapping” and allowing three of his friends to rape her on different occasions from 2017. He reportedly even filmed an act. On Wednesday, a magistrate court sent the man to police custody until December 23.

The couple was married in 2003 and has two teenaged children. The woman has sought divorce from the accused and the custody of the children. She has also submitted a domestic violence complaint against the man. An FIR has been registered against the husband and the three friends.

The woman alleged that when she confided in her father-in-law earlier this year, he too propositioned her. According to her, her husband had threatened to defame and kill her if she told anyone about the incidents. After falling chronically ill, she moved back to live with her mother in August. Subsequently, she filed the police complaint .

She alleged the first incident took place on June 15, 2017.

Husband brushed aside wife’s complaint of sex abuse by pal

According to the woman, the first time she was raped was on June 15, 2017, after her husband introduced her to a friend post-dinner. The friend is now a co-accused in the case.

She said her husband physically forced her to sit in the front seat with the friend who was driving the car while he sat behind with that man’s wife. The man reportedly molested her, and when she complained, her husband said, “Kuch nahin hota (nothing happens).” She said her husband, too, was physically involved with the his friend’s wife in the back seat.

After driving around, they went to a flat around 11.30pm, where her husband’s friend allegedly raped her while her husband was in the living room with that man’s wife. She said when she was allowed to leave the room, she complained to her husband. He took her home, assuring her that it would not happen again. They reportedly fought over the incident, following which he apologised to her.

Recalling the second instance, the woman, represented by advocates Swapana Kode and Shruti Mundargi, said one night in October 2017, her husband took her to a flat where another couple was present. She said she was raped once again, and this time her husband threatened to kill her if she revealed about the incident to anyone. She alleged that two days later, her husband brought home another man, the fourth accused in the case, when her father-in-law and children were out. She alleged the man raped her in front of her husband. The following weekend, too, the man sexually assaulted her, which her husband recorded on his phone. She alleged she was similarly assaulted on two more occasions until February. Police are investigating the case. The accused have been booked under IPC sections for rape, assault and criminal intimidation.

(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)

Read this story in Bengali

