A man from Karnataka’s Belagavi district has been convicted by the district sessions court for forcing his wife to perform sexual acts with a puppy. On Tuesday, Justice VB Sooryavanshi held the man guilty of forcing his wife into having 'unnatural sex' and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. He was also fined with Rs 11,500.
On March 25, 2017, the Katkol Police in Belagavi had received a complaint from a woman, who had been forced to leave home along with her three children due to severe physical and psychological abuse by her husband. She was 25 years old when she filed the complaint.
According to the police, Kavita* was married to Preetham* nine years ago. For five years, Preetham and Kavita did not have any problems in their marital life. The couple also have three children. However, in December 2016, Preetham began assaulting Kavita regularly when she refused to give in to his sexual demands.
“He would make her watch porn videos on his phone and force her to perform sexual acts that were in the videos. In March 2017, he got his uncle’s puppy, which was about six to seven months old, and forced his wife to perform sexual acts with it,” says sub-inspector Vittal, the investigating officer in the case.
Upon investigation, the police found that Preetham had made Kavita perform sexual acts with his uncle’s dog thrice within a span of two weeks.
“When the woman repeatedly refused to comply with his demands, he would threaten to throw her out of the house and also abandon their children. The woman is a homemaker and she depended on him financially. He would also beat her up if she refused to do as he says,” SI Vittal added.
The Katkol Police had arrested Preetham on March 25 and he was remanded to judicial custody. Preetham had petitioned the sessions court for bail. However, the bail was rejected.
“He even petitioned the High Court but the court did not grant him bail and he was in jail until the trial got over. Now he has been convicted,” Vittal added.
Katkol Police say that Kavita’s parents and Preetham's uncle, whose dog was used to perform sexual acts, testified on behalf of Kavita in court.
“Apart from the survivor's testimony and the testimonies of her parents and her husband's uncle, we had solid evidence. We had got medical reports for the woman and the dog, which worked in favour of the survivor. The judge called it a heinous crime and has sentenced him to 10 years in prison,” Vittal added.
*Names changed to protect identity of survivor.