A harrowing case of domestic violence has come to light in Bengaluru’s Nelamangala area, where a 38-year-old woman’s husband allegedly demanded that she enact scenes from porn videos, and also threatened to kill her. On Saturday, the Nelamangala Town police arrested 42-year-old Vasanth Kumar, an English lecturer, for allegedly sexually abusing Nirmala*, assaulting her, demanding dowry and threatening her life.
Speaking to TNM, the Nelamangala police said that Nirmala and Vasanth Kumar got married on June 14, 2004. Nirmala, who used to work for a local NGO, had quit her job over a year ago in order to take care of her two children.
She was unable to work long hours and look after the kids. She decided to quit her job and had allegedly told Vasanth that he would have to manage the finances for a while until she could find a job which did not involve putting in too many hours of work.
“Ever since the day she discussed this with Vasanth, he began fighting with her. Initially he would call her a freeloader and would mock her. He would not chip in and help look after the kids. A few months ago, he informed her that the property they had bought together would now be signed over to his brother’s name. He said that she had no standing in it because she was not helping out financially,” the police alleged.
Over a month after Nirmala quit her job, Vasanth allegedly stopped bringing in groceries for her and the children. He would allegedly ask her to bring money from her parents and fight with her for not having got any dowry when they got married.
“This was not all of it. Vasanth would call her names in front of the children. He would constantly address her as "prostitute" instead of using her given name. When she confronted him about it and asked why he was insulting her in front of the children, he told her that the children were not his as she had been sleeping with multiple men. He even demanded that a DNA test be conducted,” said Veena*, Nirmala’s relative.
The harassment only increased as the days passed. Soon, Vasanth allegedly began telling his children that Nirmala has AIDS and that they should not touch her, lest they would get infected too. On the night of February 6, however, Vasanth’s harassment escalated.
“He came home at around 6.30 pm and her sister’s children were there. He waited for them to leave and he once again began telling his children that Nirmala is a prostitute and that she has AIDS. He dragged her into the room, showed her a porn video, asked her to wear only her underwear and act like the woman in the video,” Veena claimed, adding, "When Nirmala refused, Vasanth tore her clothes, scratched her arms and breasts. He fished out a knife from his bag and threatened to kill her. He bit her all over her body. He chased her to the kitchen and hit her with the stick used to make ragi mudde. She bit him and escaped from there. She reached her mother’s house in torn clothes and then she was taken to the hospital."
On February 7, the Nelamangala Town police arrived at the hospital to take down Nirmala’s complaint and an FIR was registered against Vasath Kumar. Vasanth, who was absconding, was arrested on Saturday by the police.
He has been booked under sections 498a (domestic violence), 323 (assault), 324 (assault with a dangerous weapon), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. When asked why sections under the Dowry Prohibition Act were not applicable, the police said that on interrogation, the sections would be added before filing the chargesheet.
*Name changed to protect privacy