Man who put improvised chastity belt on wife jailed for 10 years - Update

An Indian man, who put a 'chastity lock' on his wife in a cruel, self-devised way, was sentenced to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment by a court on Friday even though the victim had retracted her statement during the trial.



Additional Sessions Judge Avnindra Kumar Singh also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 (£12, $18) on the accused Sohanlal Chouhan (38), a mechanic by profession, under sections 326 (causing grievous hurt) and section 498 (subjecting wife to cruelty) of the Indian Penal Code. According to the prosecution, Sohanlal, over four years, 'locked' his wife's private parts every time he left the home. He had carried out a crude surgery on her to put the lock.

The suspicion of her character made him indulge in this bizarre cruelty, Public Prosecutor Jyoti Tomar told the court. The woman suffered serious injuries in the process, which had involved piercing her with knitting needles. It came to light when the woman tried to end her life by consuming rat poison on July 16 last year. While treating her, a doctor at the MY Hospital in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, found the lock and informed the police.

News video from time of Chouhan's original arrest.

YouTube link.

Dr Vibha Moses, who examined the woman, told the court that she had found the lock on woman's private parts, and the woman told her that her husband had fixed it four years ago, after forcing her to eat opium for anaesthetic effect. Interestingly, though the victim retracted her statement during the trial, the judge relied on the doctor's statement and the circumstantial evidence to convict Sohanlal, advocate Tomar said.

Previously.