by Rachel Ogbu

An Indian man and his family are now in police custody after they allegedly assaulted his pregnant wife for refusing to abort a two-month-old foetus.

Suvarna Gaikwad, 20, was kicked, punched in the stomach and ‘stomped on’ by her husband and his family, news report claim.

Unfortunately, they succeeded in killing the baby in the process and had to be aborted.

“My husband’s family would regularly visit this so called Godman. They took me to him too, since there were squabbles in the house. Since I refused to abort my baby, they hit me,” she said.

According to reports, Gaikwad said that she had previously been ‘tortured’ by members of her husband’s family because they wanted her to provide a dowry to build a house.

Daily Mail reports:

Police say the 20-year-old was attacked after Shyambamba Shinde, a ‘Godman’ – an Indian holy man she was taken to see – told her in-laws that she was carrying a girl which would bring doom upon the family.

She was told to abort the foetus but when she refused, was allegedly roughed up by her husband, mother-in-law and two others who stomped on her stomach.

In her complaint to police she says was attacked on April 4.

Her husband Khanderao Gaikwad, who is a labourer, the holy man and six others, including her in-laws, have been arrested and charged for harassment and causing miscarriage without woman’s consent.

Suvarna Gaikwad married Khanderao Gaikwad last June, say police After the attack she confided in her uncle who helped her file a police complaint.

Bajirao Bhosale, the police inspector at Panchvati police station in Nashik, Marahashtra, said: “A godman told her that the baby in her stomach is a girl and that the family will suffer a lot because of that girl and so Suvarna Gaikwad was assaulted. We have arrested those involved,” he said.

All the accused have been remanded in police custody till April 18, police said.