A 20-year-old dental science student shared her nude pictures on WhatsApp in 2015 with her then boyfriend. Not only did it put her through a traumatic series of events but also landed her in an abusive marriage with another man.
The ordeal landed her at the doors of the women's helpline in Bengaluru, Vanitha Sahayavani, at the Commissioner's Office. She and her husband have been attending counselling sessions at the helpline office.
It all started in mid-2015, when the girl — hailing from a reputed east Bengaluru family — clicked nude selfies and shared them with her then boyfriend.
Saraswathi, the senior counsellor handling the case, said the girl was madly in love with the guy and trusted him blindly. So when he asked her for the pictures, she shared a few of them without giving it much thought.
However, the guy shared these pictures with his best friend, who in turn shared these pictures in a WhatsApp group. Soon all who were a part of that group reportedly began harassing her.
One of the members of that group, who was allegedly a class 10 dropout, acted as her "saviour" in this situation by informing her that some of her objectionable pictures were being circulated. He also claimed he had beaten up a few men and made them delete the pictures.
Vanitha Sahayavani head Rani Shetty, who is monitoring the case, said this man then expressed his love for her and she reciprocated. She then eloped with the guy in 2016 and married him against her family's wishes.
After marriage, the two moved into a house in Yashwantpur and the woman continued with her dental school courses. But the man allegedly started abusing her within a few months.
The a 30-year-old businessman even forced her to bathe in cold water during winters. She was forced into having sex with him, was held captive in her own house and beaten up mercilessly, she has told the counsellors.
Unable to bear his torture, the woman ran away to her parents' place. Scared to return to her husband, the woman then sought help from Vanitha Sahayavani.
While she continues to demand for divorce, her spouse has reportedly been threatening to post her nude photos online and commit suicide if she does not return to him.
Even the counselling sessions — held after the man approached the cops and opted for legal assistance to get back his wife — turned dramatic.
Not content with just threatening suicide, the man said in one session he would do it by slitting his throat in the counselling room, and in another that he would consume poison.
Counsellor Saraswathi said he even threatened to kill the girl once.
