A Family Trapped by Poverty, a Predator Who Exploited It
When a 22-year-old woman's father died during Covid, her family had little choice but to rent a cheap room and survive on daily wages. That vulnerability — a fatherless household, a working mother, a ₹1,500-a-month tenancy — was precisely what Sunil Kumar Gharde (59) allegedly exploited over the course of nearly three years.
What followed was a calculated pattern of rape, coercion, threats, and ultimately the deaths of both the young woman and her newborn child — all of it hidden behind closed doors until a swollen abdomen at a funeral gave everything away.
Gharde has been arrested, confessed after police confronted him with DNA evidence, and is now in judicial custody in Balod district, Chhattisgarh.
How It Began: Grooming Under the Cover of Poverty
The young woman, her mother, younger sister, and brother had been living in Gharde's rented property in Daundiloha for approximately three years. Her mother worked as a daily wage labourer. Her brother washed utensils at a food stall. The victim stayed at home.
Gharde — a married man with two grown children, living separately from his wife — had no job and spent his days watching television. He began calling the young woman to massage his feet and made comments about being in love with her and wanting to marry her. She called him "dada" — grandfather.
Over time, according to the police investigation, he began offering her money. When her financial vulnerability made refusal difficult, he began forcing sexual relations. When she resisted, he threatened to throw the family out of the house.
He raped her repeatedly. She became pregnant.
Pregnancy, Silence and YouTube Searches
When she was four months pregnant, the young woman told her mother. Her mother confronted Gharde directly. His response: "I caused this problem, I will fix it." He warned both mother and daughter against going to police, threatening to destroy the girl's reputation if they spoke out. The mother, afraid and financially dependent, stayed silent and filed no complaint.
What Gharde did next reveals both his panic and his depravity. Police later found on his mobile phone hundreds of YouTube searches for videos on how to terminate a pregnancy — searches conducted repeatedly over several months as the pregnancy progressed. When none of the online videos gave him a workable solution, he began planning to dispose of the newborn after birth.
He never took the young woman to a doctor. He threatened her that seeking medical help would expose everything and destroy them both.
The Night of March 9: Painkillers Instead of a Doctor
On March 9, in her ninth month, the young woman went into labour. Instead of calling a doctor or taking her to a hospital, Gharde went to a medical shop and bought over-the-counter painkillers without any prescription or medical consultation.
He gave her the painkillers. The pain intensified. He gave her two more tablets. The baby was partially delivered but stuck. Within 15 minutes, the young woman died in agony. The newborn also died.
The Funeral That Became an Investigation
After the deaths, Gharde told everyone in the household to stay silent and began preparing for the funeral. Before cremation could take place, the young woman's relatives arrived. They were immediately alarmed — her abdomen was visibly swollen in a way that did not appear normal. Neighbours alerted police.
Police conducted a postmortem. The results were unambiguous — a approximately three-kilogram newborn was found inside the body, stuck during delivery. The investigation shifted immediately.
In initial questioning, Gharde tried to mislead police by suggesting the young woman must have had a romantic relationship with some unknown man. Police checked her mobile's call detail records. No such person existed.
Officers then checked Gharde's mobile. It contained hundreds of YouTube searches related to pregnancy termination — conducted over multiple months. When police told him DNA testing would establish paternity conclusively, he broke down and confessed.
Arrested, Charged, Sent to Jail
Sunil Kumar Gharde has been arrested and sent to judicial remand. Charges have been registered against him under BNS Sections 90, 91, 105, 238, 351(3) and 64(2)(m) — covering rape, culpable homicide, concealment of birth, and related offences.
The Systemic Failure Behind This Tragedy
This case is not just about one predatory individual. It exposes the layers of vulnerability that allowed this to continue for years:
A fatherless, economically dependent family with nowhere else to go. A mother too afraid — of eviction, of stigma, of the accused's threats — to walk into a police station and report what was happening to her daughter. A young woman who had been told since childhood to call her abuser "grandfather" and who was systematically isolated and silenced through financial coercion. And a system where a 9-month pregnant woman was given painkillers from a medical shop instead of being taken to a hospital — because her rapist feared exposure more than her life.
The mother's silence was not indifference. It was the paralysis of poverty weaponised against her by someone with property, money, and the threat of eviction.
Key Facts
- Accused: Sunil Kumar Gharde (59), Daundiloha, Balod district
- Victim: 22-year-old tenant, name withheld
- Deaths: Mother and newborn, March 9, 2026 — within 15 minutes after painkillers given during labour
- Evidence: YouTube search history on accused's phone — hundreds of abortion-related searches
- Confession trigger: Police informed him DNA testing would establish paternity
- Charges: BNS Sections 90, 91, 105, 238, 351(3), 64(2)(m)
- Status: Arrested, judicial remand, sent to jail
- Investigating station: Daundiloha Police Station, Balod district
Bottom Line
A 22-year-old woman and her newborn are dead. A 59-year-old man exploited a family's poverty, raped a young woman repeatedly, silenced her through threats, searched YouTube for abortion videos for months, and when labour began — gave her painkillers instead of a doctor.
Justice now depends on the courts moving swiftly, the DNA evidence being formally entered, and the full weight of BNS provisions being applied without compromise.
If you or someone you know is in a situation of domestic or sexual abuse, please contact the Women Helpline: 181 (24x7, free, all states).
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