MAN ACCUSED OF RAPING DAUGHTER KILLS WIFE AT COURT

GUWAHATI: A man accused of raping his teenage daughter slit his wife’s throat on Friday outside a sessions court in Assam’s Dibrugarh, moments before she was to appear as a witness in the case, police said.

Purna Nahar Deka, 35, who was out on bail, attacked his wife Ritu, in her late 20s, with a knife. She had complained to the police nearly 11 months ago that Deka had raped their daughter.

“The accused slit his wife’s throat with the knife. A severely bleeding Ritu was rushed to the Assam Medical College hospital, but she died before reaching there,” said Sidheshwar Borah, in-charge of Dibrugarh police station. Deka, a carpenter from Joypore in Naharkatiya, was arrested in August last year. The couple have two other children -a daughter and a son -- both younger than the alleged rape victim. He was granted bail on June 6. Police said that instead of going back to his home, Deka stayed at a hotel in Dibrugarh, fearing opposition from neighbours in his village.

“On Friday, Deka’s wife was to depose before the judge against her husband in the same case. Both reached the court separately. But before the proceedings could begin, Deka attacked his wife,” Borah said.

Police have arrested the accused. Talking to local media outlets after his arrest on Friday, Deka denied raping his daughter and blamed his wife for registering a false case against him as he was opposing her “immoral activities”.