Lawyer held for assaulting pregnant wife, killing unborn child

The police has arrested a 30-year- old lawyer for allegedly assaulting his pregnant wife which led to the death of the unborn child, an official said today.

The victim, who hails from New Delhi and is also a practising lawyer, got married to the man some months back and shifted to his residence at Colaba in south Mumbai.

However, soon after the marriage, the couple started having frequent fights, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-I) Manojkumar Sharma said.

The woman approached the Colaba police earlier this week with a complaint that her husband recently assaulted her, as a result of which she lost her 11-week-old foetus, he said.

The woman further alleged that her husband had since some time been pressurising her to abort the child, based on some of his superstitious beliefs, and had also threatened her with dire consequences, Sharma said.

Based on the complaint, the police arrested the man yesterday, he said.

Offences were registered against the man under IPC sections 315 (act with an intent to prevent child being born alive or to cause it to die after birth), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation), the police official said.

The accused was produced yesterday in a court which remanded him in police custody for two days.