The horror of rape within the home reared its ugly head yet again when a 15-year-old girl, who was regularly raped by her father for a year, had to approach a neighbour for help to register an FIR against her father. According to the Vikhroli police, Salim Khan (name changed), a 45-year-old maulvi, was arrested for raping his 15-year-old daughter at their residence in the eastern suburb yesterday.

“The girl had tried to tell her mother several times but she did not believe her and used to brush her off,” said Sub-Inspector Sunil Chavan of Vikhroli police station. “As a last resort, the girl approached her neighbour and refused to leave his home until he took some action,” he added. Khan has seven daughters and two sons. He reportedly raped his fifth daughter repeatedly and had even threatened her of dire consequences if she told anyone. However, after being ignored by her mother, the girl gathered courage to tell her neighbour.