Are moms the new monsters? DU girl drags mother to court for sexual abuse

If the Sheena Bora murder case, in which Star TV ex-CEO Peter Mukerjea's wife Indrani is accused of killing her own daughter, has shocked you out of your wits, here's more. In one of the rarest cases, a girl studying in a prestigious college of Delhi University has moved a Delhi court, alleging that her mother has sexually assaulted her several times.

The girl in her petition has alleged that she has been subjected to cruelty and sexual harassment at the hands of her parents. The complaint has been filed under Section 12 of the Protection of Women From Domestic Violence Act, 2005.

"I have been subjected to physical and mental torture by my parents since childhood. At that point, I thought it was normal for parents to beat their children," Prerna (name changed) told Mail Today.

"However, when I reached senior school, I came to know about the perverted nature of my mother. She used to grope me, touch my private parts and scold me. I could not understand her intentions. My parents always stopped me from going out with my friends and participating in school and college activities," Prerna said, adding that her parents used to call her teachers and friends and urged them not to involve her in extracurricular activities.

Prerna also alleged that she has been a victim of parental cruelty and sexual harassment for years and that her parents confined her to their residence for days at times. "They used to lock me up and didn't send me to school for days," she said.

Her situation allegedly got worse when she started going to college. "The college days opened doors of opportunities to me. Poetry and plays have been my interests. I used to be an active member of Delhi Poetry Slam, but my parents once called the organisers and urged them to stop me from taking part in the event. My mother with the support of my father had time and again taken steps to put an end to my eagerness in participating in extracurricular activities. My mother turns very violent."

Citing several incidents of sexual assault on her, Prerna said, "One morning, my mother entered my room while I was sleeping and groped me. When she started feeling me up, I resisted and pushed her away. She insisted that I should not resist and accused me of sleeping around with men."

However, when Mail Today contacted the complainant's mother, she refuted all allegations. "You have been misinformed. Everything is fine," she said.

However, Prerna accused her mother of physically and sexually assaulting her very often. Citing yet another incident, she alleged that her mother got angry, physically assaulted her and tore her clothes when she sought permission to meet a friend for a while.

After mustering some courage, Prerna said, she decided to seek police intervention. "However, the police turned down my complaint and told me that a mother cannot resort to sexual assault. I filed my first complaint in the Roop Nagar Police Station, but was shooed away. I later went to the Civil Lines Police Station, but they too turned down my complaint. Later, I had to seek the Delhi police commissioner's intervention," she said. Prerna has parted ways with her parents and is living with her friends. She alleged that her mother has been sending her abusive text messages ever since she left home in disgust. Read more here.