Madhya Pradesh man held for ‘selling’ wife to friend to pay off a debt

A man has been arrested in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district for allegedly “selling” his wife to his friend to pay off a debt, who later raped her, police officers said on Tuesday (June 24, 2025).

According to the police, the women, a resident of Dhar’s Kanwan area, had lodged a complaint at the women’s police station in Indore, and a zero First Information Report (FIR) was registered on Monday. The FIR was later transferred to the Kanwan police station. 

The woman’s husband, Jogendra Thakur, was arrested on Monday, and a team has been dispatched to Delhi to apprehend his friend, Abhimanyu Thakur, who runs a credit company there, Dhar Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar Singh told The Hindu.  

Friends from childhood, the two men had been involved in monetary transactions for the past few years, and Mr. Jogendra Thakur currently owed Mr. Abhimanyu Thakur about ₹8 lakh, the police said. 

“The woman has alleged that her husband had lost money due to his gambling habit, after which he forced her to have physical relations with Abhimanyu. The woman is currently in Indore, and we have sent a team to bring her to get more details on the matter,” Mr. Singh said. The rape allegedly took place in Indore and Delhi. 

“During questioning, Jogendra has denied the allegations of selling his wife, and is claiming that the complaint was filed at the behest of a relative in Indore,” the police official said. 

“He is also claiming that his wife and Abhimanyu have been friends for years as the couple used to often travel to Delhi since their marriage in 2016,” Mr. Singh said, adding that the police were probing all angles related to the case.