On May 1, 2026, a police complaint was filed at the Morbi city A Division police station. It was a case of sexual assault under the POCSO Act, something that the police officers may not have expected for the day, but what was more shocking was- Why? Was it done?
According to the official National Crime Records Bureau's 'Crime in India 2024' Report, over 29,536 reported rape cases nationwide, where, for minors, a shocking figure of 69,191 cases were registered under the POCSO Act, where 96.6% of child sexual abuse is committed by individuals known to the victim.
These figures aren’t just numbers; they're actual people who are nearly equal to the entire population of Micronesia.
Yet another heinous crime, which was committed in Morbi, was not by a stranger but by the victim’s own landlord.
The Socio-economic background of the Family
A 25-30-year-old labourer originally from Gujarat’s Surendranagar district was looking for a stable source of income. Morbi, being the ceramic capital of India, acts as a magnet for low or unskilled workers to draw income in the industrial city. Belonging to a poor socio-economic background, the man, like various people, decided to settle in the city in the hope of finding work soon and finally having a stable income.
Around December, six months prior to the incident taking place, the family quietly settled in a semi-urban, densely populated district in Morbi. With his 13-year-old daughter and wife, the man made a tenancy agreement to live in one of the residential clusters located on the outskirts of the city.
Upon moving to Morbi, the family was entirely isolated. They did not have an established community network, extended family support, or a local social circle in the city. This extreme isolation meant no one was around to notice their distress or intervene as their financial crisis worsened.
The Rapist Landlord
A 55-year-old man belonged to a relatively stable, property-owning class in Morbi. He owned residential structures or tenements specifically built to be rented out to low-income migrant workers shifting to the industrial district.
He himself stayed in Tankara and had settled a Rent agreement with the husband for a borderline rent of Rs 2000 per month.
Compared to his tenants, he occupied a position of clear financial and social superiority. In a fast-growing hub like Morbi, owning physical land and housing gave him substantial informal power over vulnerable, assetless families who had no alternative shelter.
When the Situation Falls Apart
The daily struggle for survival in Morbi as a low-income labourer was already precarious; little did the family know their condition was about to worsen. As the reports indicate no clear or stable job for the man, it is evident that the financial condition of the family was about to stretch further.
The victim’s father somehow managed to pay the agreed rent for two months, but as time passed, savings were lost, and the family’s minimal income vanished completely. With zero cash flow, the rent became an accumulated amount of Rs 8000, which was the rent not paid to the landlord for four months straight.
The landlord, rather than operating as a typical property owner who might immediately evict non-paying tenants, intentionally allowed the family's rent debt to accumulate over four months to a total of ₹8,000. He used his financial position as a creditor to create a high-pressure "debt trap."
It was at this exact financial tipping point that the house became completely fractured, and the landlord shifted from a property owner demanding to a predator exploiting absolute dependency. Realising the family had no savings, no local relatives, and nowhere else to go, he used the threat of immediate eviction to systematically break down their boundaries, initiating a prolonged cycle of abuse.
The Beginning of the crime cycle
The 55-year-old rapist, instead of demanding the money straight away or filing a complaint, had already laid his disgusting vision on the tenant’s wife. Taking advantage of the family’s vulnerable situation, he threatened the victim’s husband with eviction. This was when the accused disgustingly demanded the man’s wife, who, in the compelling situation and pressure, allowed the rape to take place.
The woman was reportedly raped multiple times by the landlord against his unfulfilled rent agreement. In this process, the 13-year-old minor daughter of the man was also subjected to sexual assault by both the 55-year-old accused and his relative.
The girl was raped not just at her own house but at various locations, including the landlord’s residence in Tankara.
Beneath the glittering surface of the industrial sector of Morbi lived an unspoken reality in the dark. Behind the closed doors of a rented house, a horrific incident had shattered the dignity and humanity and proved the dirty existence of the society once more, trapped in a prolonged cycle of sexual assault.
May 1, 2026
The complaint that finally broke the cycle of abuse was filed by the paternal grandfather of the minor girl. Living outside the immediate household, the grandfather eventually learned about the severe financial extortion and continuous sexual abuse occurring within the rented room. He realised that the victims' father was actively permitting the exploitation to take place rather than protecting his family.
The grandfather approached the local Gujarat Police in Morbi and detailed the systematic exploitation of both his daughter-in-law and his minor granddaughter over the ₹8,000 rent arrears.
Based on his detailed testimony, the police registered a formal First Information Report (FIR). This immediate legal intervention initiated a raid, rescued the survivors, and led to the prompt arrest of both the 55-year-old landlord and the complicit father under strict provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the POCSO Act.
Way Forward
The tragedy in Morbi shows a scary truth: someone who allows a crime to happen is just as guilty as the person who commits it. By staying silent and letting his family be abused to clear a ₹8,000 rent debt, the father became a criminal alongside the predatory landlord.
This case exposes the ugly face of our society, where poor migrant workers are completely at the mercy of powerful local landlords. It also reflects a much larger, heartbreaking problem across India: the constant rise in rape and sexual violence against women and young girls.
When a society tolerates extreme poverty and treats vulnerable people like property, it allows these horrors to happen. True justice means punishing both men, but it also requires us to urgently change the broken system that lets human dignity be traded just to keep a roof over one's head.
As quoted, we should not forget-
“When exposing a crime is treated as committing a crime, you are being ruled by criminals.” -Edward Snowden
References
- The Times of India- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
- IndiaSpend- https://www.indiaspend.com
- NDTV- https://www.ndtv.com
- India Today- https://www.indiatoday.in
- The Statesman- https://www.thestatesman.com
- Goodreads- https://www.goodreads.com