Ponda:Ponda police
on Friday arrested a 40-year-old casual labourer for raping a deaf and dumb woman twice between April last year and March this year. The woman, aged around 35 years, is a
relative
of the accused,
police
said.
The woman had voluntarily approached the Ponda police station, police personnel said, but as the staff were unable to understand her sign language, they sought help from an NGO and a
sign language
interpreter to understand her plight.
Based on her narration aided by the interpreter, Ponda police booked the man under the old law, the
Indian Penal Code
, for alleged
rape
. The accused has been booked under section 376(2)(l) of the IPC.
Police have justified that they have booked the accused under the old law despite the new act —
Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita
, 2023 — being in force as the offence occurred before the new law was implemented.
Police said the woman was first raped by the accused when she had visited his house last year, and a second time early this year. She said she had remained silent because she was threatened by the accused, police said.
Ponda PSI Pragati Malik is investigating the case. A Ponda court has remanded the accused in five days police custody.
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