A woman was allegedly confined to a room at her in-laws’ house in Dehradun for around 10 months, assaulted and tortured, and fed raw rice, according to an FIR filed based on a complaint by her father.
The complaint accuses her husband and his parents of confining and assaulting her between July 2025 and May 2026. “For around 10 months, she was locked inside a room and a toilet and subjected to beatings. When her husband came home on leave, he, too, assaulted her and never took care of her. All three of them subjected my daughter to severe mental and physical cruelty and also hurt her dignity, honour and self-respect. During these 10 months, she was beaten very brutally with objects such as sticks, pipes, rods, chairs, wipers and other items. They also caused injuries to her private parts with a bottle and sticks,” the complaint alleged.
An FIR was registered under sections of voluntarily causing hurt, wrongful confinement, and criminal intimidation, among others.
The father claimed that when the woman was brought out of the room, she had forgotten the day, month, and even the year. The woman was taken back to her village following the intervention of the village head. “They assaulted our daughter so severely that we had to get her medically examined. In February 2025, our daughter gave birth to twin children. Since the very day of their birth, they have separated the children from her. She was not even allowed to hold them,” he alleged.
The father further said that for these 10 months, he and his family were not allowed to meet the woman or speak to her over the phone. “They kept telling us that we were ruining our daughter’s married life and that she was their daughter-in-law and they would take care of her. Whenever we spoke to her mother-in-law on the phone, we were told that the girl was sleeping or bathing. In reality, our daughter was locked inside a room or toilet… and was kept there throughout the day and night,” he claimed.
The complainant also claimed she was forced to consume raw rice, onions, salt and green chilli for meals. “Forget treating her as a daughter-in-law or daughter; she was not even given basic human dignity. Her hair was pulled so violently that patches of hair were lost from her scalp,” he said.
“They have treated their daughter-in-law worse than an animal and have beaten her mercilessly,” the father alleged.
The Circle Officer of the area said the woman’s family initially approached police for counselling, and observing the magnitude of the incident and the signs of assault, they registered an FIR. “We are collecting evidence, including pictures showing injuries, and a medical report. We will investigate the motive for the incident, and if evidence aligns with dowry-related violence, we will invoke the act,” the officer said.
The accused was unavailable for comments.
