She was allegedly raped by her husband for 4 years, but cops refuse to arrest him

At the age of 22, Shabana* says she has seen more horrors than most can imagine in a lifetime. Married at the age of 18, Shabana realised on her wedding night that she was married to a monster, she says. Yaseen* showed her a porn clip, demanded that she do everything on the video, and beat her when she refused.

In January, Shabana decided that she couldn’t take it any more. When her husband snatched her daughter away from her, and threatened to hurt her, Shabana went to the police. But instead of helping her, the KG Halli police reportedly told her that she didn’t have enough evidence.

She finally petitioned the City Metropolitan Magistrate on March 10, after which, the court directed the KG Halli police to file an FIR and arrest Yaseen.

But over a month later, the police have done nothing.

The torture

“It began the first night I went to my husband Mohammad Yaseen’s house,” recounts Shabana. “He gave me a pill and told me to take it. When I questioned him, he said it was so I don’t get pregnant. Later, he showed me a porn clip on his phone and told me to do exactly what I had seen,” she says.

For someone who had led an extremely sheltered life, Shabana was shocked. “I did not even know what was happening in the video. Before we got married, he gave me the impression that ours would be a happy marriage. I was really scared. I immediately refused to do any of those things. That’s when he began beating me,” Shabana says.

Scared and shocked at the situation she had landed in, Shabana was clueless and finally did what Yaseen told her to do.

“If I refused to do whatever he asked me to do, he would beat me black and blue. Either way it was painful. He would come home at night and once the torture began, it would go on till 3 or 4am. When he was done, he would push me out of the room and say he wanted to sleep,” Shabana says.

When she couldn’t take it anymore, Shabana confided in her brother Aasif and told him how her husband was beating her. She, however, did not tell him about how Yaseen was raping her every night.

“When Aasif confronted my husband, he brutally assaulted my brother. Later, when the torture continued, he threatened to kill my brother if I ever told anyone about it,” Shabana says.

The first complaint

“I had my first child in April 2015. Two months after the delivery, the torture began again. That is when I went to file a complaint with the Halasuru Gate Women’s Police Station,” says Shabana, “but the police told me to give him one more chance.”

“Everything was fine for a week, but the torture began again. When I told him that I would complain to the police, he beat my little girl and threatened to kill her if I did not oblige,” Shabana says.

Shabana says that she went to the police station twice to file a complaint - but both time, she says, they told her to ‘compromise’ and give her husband another chance.

In October 2016, Shabana had a baby boy. She was still in the hospital three days after the delivery, when her husband got her discharged and took her home.

“He did not even consider that I had just had a baby. He forced me to take another pill, and when I told him that I would not, he said it was Viagra and that it would help me. Then he forced me to take it and raped me. I became unconscious after a while. I don’t remember what happened after that,” Shabana says.

This time though, Shabana decided to confess to her brother about everything.

“When I woke up, I rushed to my brother’s house and told him everything this time,” Shabana said.

The police apathy

Shabana then informed Yaseen that she would file for a divorce. Angered by this, on January 1, Yaseen allegedly entered Aasif’s house, where Shabana was staying with her children, and assaulted Aasif.

He then took away their daughter. He then began threatening Shabana that he would beat the child if she filed a complaint.

“I immediately went to the KG Halli police and told them about what had happened. This time, they said that since I did not have any evidence for what had happened, they could not file a complaint,” she says.

“It has been over a month since the court order was issued and my husband is still living happily in his Yeswanthpur home. The police are not doing anything,” alleges Shabana.

*Names changed to protect identity