BENGALURU: A 17-year-old girl in advanced stage of pregnancy has been allegedly cheated by a 38-year-old married man who is HIV-positive.

The incident came to light on Tuesday when the girl and her mother walked into the Makkala Sahaya Vani office at the city police headquarters seeking justice.

The mother told counsellors that her daughter had been cheated by the man, a driver. She had learnt later that the man was already married. Realizing that they had a case of child marriage, rape, polygamy and cheating on their hands, the counsellors asked for more details.

On getting information from the mother, the counsellors recalled that they had received a similar complaint from a pregnant woman at Vanita Sahayavani two years ago. They looked into their files and realized that the man had been married thrice before and they'd received a complaint from another woman who said he had married her sister.

The woman, who said her husband was HIV-positive, was pregnant and also infected.

"The woman had complained that her husband had eloped with her younger sister and made her pregnant. As the young woman was HIV-positive, we advised her to have an abortion. A year later, he got into a relationship with the young woman's cousin and she contracted the infection. The man was later taken into custody but the wife withdrew her complaint after a couple of days," a counsellor at the helpline said.

"Today's case is one of rape of a minor and teenage pregnancy. She has just weeks to go for her due date, and hence counselling her was essential," said a counsellor. "We do not know if she is HIV positive. The man is not undergoing any treatment."

The girl was sent to the child welfare committee. The counsellors summoned the man and his first wife before the child welfare committee. The man has been sent to the Wilson Garden police station. The girl and her mother were sent back to their house in north Bengaluru. An FIR is yet to be filed against the man.