An gambling addict in India sprayed his wife with acid because she refused to let his friends rape her in the gang after losing a bet, according to reports.
The 36-year-old man sent his 10-year-old wife of 30 to be raped by his gambling friends several times in October, the British Independent reported.
“If she had ever resisted sexual exploitation, her husband would have beaten her and held her hostage,” police officer Rajesh Kumar Jha told reporters.
On Saturday, the man threw acid on his wife, who managed to escape from her parents and alerted social activist Deepak Singh, who took her to a police station, the Times of India reported.
The husband was arrested the following evening.
“The victim, while telling the story of her ordeal to police officers, claimed that her husband used to torture her because she could not become a mother because of her husband’s alcoholism,” police told reporters.
The husband was convicted of several charges, including acid assault, gang rape, domestic violence and illegal imprisonment, the Independent reported.
The couple was not named because of laws that protect the identities of victims of sex crimes.
The news of the horrific crime comes amid a period of coronavirus blockade that has led to an almost double increase in gender-based violence, according to the National Commission for Women, the press reported.
The Commission registered 587 complaints of domestic violence in India between 23 March and 16 April, an increase of 45% over the last 25 days, between 27 February and 22 March.