A daughter's childhood was traded for two thousand rupees

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In one of the most disturbing cases to emerge from Gujarat in recent memory, a man in Morbi allegedly handed over his wife and 13-year-old daughter to his landlord and the landlord's relative for repeated sexual assault for months instead of the unpaid rent of Rs 2,000.

What happened

The family had the husband, his wife, and their daughter.

They had come to Morbi approximately six months ago from outside Gujarat, in search of work.

Morbi district, the ceramic and clock-manufacturing hub of Saurashtra, routinely draws migrant labour from across India, and the family was among the thousands who rent rooms in worker quarters near factory clusters.

The husband rented accommodation from the landlord at Rs 2,000 per month. As his work proved insufficient, the rent went unpaid. The landlord pressures the man to pay the rent.

The tenant offered an oral agreement to settle his debt, in which he allowed access to the landlord to his wife in exchange for the rent.

It escalated with time, and the landlord’s demand expanded to include the tenant's 13-year-old daughter. And again, the father agreed to his demand.

The landlord sexually assaulted the mother and the daughter for several months.

The landlord had taken the daughter to multiple locations, including a property in Tankara. There she was sexually abused by the landlord and his relatives.

This heinous, unbelievable case creates lots of questions about the society we live in, where the woman and her daughter are seen as property of men, which he can offer to settle the case.

No one complained about it, and according to the police, the victims suffered for more than 4 months.

The Police Action

The incident came to light when the woman’s maternal grandfather found out what had been happening. He filed a formal complaint with the police.

The case was registered at Morbi City A Division police station on May 1, the police has filled a case with serious legal charges: The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Human Trafficking & Slavery: Section 370 (Trafficking of persons) and Section 372 (Selling minor for purposes of prostitution), Rape & Criminal Conspiracy: Charges were filed for the sexual assault itself and the conspiracy between the husband and the landlord.

After the complaint, the police took action. The tenant and husband have been arrested and are currently in judicial custody. The 55-year-old landlord was produced before a court and initially sent to one day's custodial remand to allow investigators to record his statement and gather evidence. Following the remand period, he was sent to judicial custody.

Morbi City A Division police inspector Y B Jadeja confirmed that the panchnama of the crime scene had been completed, medical examination of both the victims and the accused had been conducted, and scientific evidence had been collected. A police team is actively looking for the landlord's relative and the family members who allegedly aided and abetted the offences and have since fled.

He explained that the number of times the assaults took place, the locations involved, and the involvement of more than one perpetrator make this a complex case that will require sustained investigative effort.

The Tragedy

This case looks unreal. How can someone sell his wife and daughter to someone for unpaid rent? But sadly, this unbelievable case becomes common in the reality of India, which is deeply devastating.

While researching, it becomes shocking for me to adjust to the truth. There have been several similar cases in recent months.

With headlines like:

“Man sells wife to 2 men for Rs 1k"
"UP Woman Gang-Raped After Husband Sells Her To Friends For Rs 1,000”
“Madhya Pradesh man held for ‘selling’ wife to friend to pay off a debt"

These cases are showing the horrifying reality of India, in which women are seen as property of men, and everyone sees it in a patriarchal society.

And the cases are similar in Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, where people buy women from poorer states to sell them as "slave brides" to desperate men.

Many females are 13-15 years old when they are bid. These illegal "sales" are allegedly recorded on stamp paper, essentially treating women as commodities or rental objects.

Many cases show that in poverty, parents sell their daughters to traffickers just to afford basic food or clear debts. In regions like the Sunderbans in West Bengal, cyclones and floods destroy livelihoods foods.

Traffickers take advantage of this vulnerability, preying on hungry families by offering cash in exchange for their daughters.

Some data and reports show the dark side of our society, how women are seen as commodities and sold to men.

The demands are from men who are desperate and buy women and children for sexual exploitation or bonded labour.

Strict Legal action

India needs to take strict action against crimes against women and children.

Many countries like China, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Russia, Ethiopia, and Iran have the death penalty for sexual assault or gang rape cases involving women or juveniles.

With strict actions like shooting or lethal injection, chemical castration, and hanging are common.

Whereas in India, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data reveals that the pendency rate for crimes against women in courts hovers around 95%. This means that out of all rape and sexual assault cases brought before a court in a year, judges are only able to clear about 5% of them.

The police fail to investigate nearly 35% to 49% of severe rape and murder cases.

The people blame and shame the victim, which delays the registration of the case, as many victims are attacked and exploited if they file a complaint against the culprit, so many cases are unreported.

The delay occurred because of 150 to 160 police officers per 100,000 citizens, far below the United Nations recommendation of a minimum of 222. And 21 judges per million people.

The Biggest flaws in laws

The law for the rape of a woman mandates a minimum of 10 years of rigorous imprisonment up to life, while gang rape carries a minimum of 20 years up to life imprisonment. And if the victim is a minor, the POCSO Act and BNS escalate punishments significantly: penetrative sexual assault against children under 16 carries a minimum of 20 years to life imprisonment.

The laws are strict, but implementation is weak

, and in many cases, it's seen that the convict gets easy bail and commits the crime again.

If a victim is harmed, then why do criminals get a chance of living a whole life with necessities like food, books, water, etc?

According to the data, only 54 sexual offences and murder convicts got the death penalty in 2019, and in total, 40 capital punishment sentences, the victim was under the age of 12.

When the law allows the death penalty for the gang rape of a minor, why adult rape victims are not given the same level of justice? Whether the victim is a minor or an adult, the pain, trauma, and fear caused by rape are equally devastating, and every victim deserves equal justice. Giving convicts only life imprisonment instead of strict punishment makes women still unsafe in society, as criminals are given a chance to continue living while victims suffer for the rest of their lives. Justice should protect every woman equally, whether she survives the assault or loses her life, so that no other woman has to face the same horror again.

The case of the man putting his wife and daughter on a deal for 2,000 rupees is a stain on humanity.

It shows that as long as society treats women as property, no woman or child is truly safe. We must make strict laws against cases like this and demand justice for the victims.

Only strict punishment can make a change and make it safer for women and children.

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