Preliminary investigations revealed that Bhat, who married twice after allegedly killing his first wife in 2006, forced his 16-year-old daughter (from the first marriage) into a physical relationship with him for over a year. The police said during the preliminary interrogation, Bhat admitted to his crime by saying that he made a mistake.

Bhat, who has been working at a farm house in Kherdi village of Rajkot district for over a year now, has six children (five sons and a daughter) from three marriages. Imprisoned for a year for allegedly killing his first wife, Tarvi, he was released on bail in 2007.

Dhrol police said the girl and her step mother, Preeti, the third wife of Bhat, on Friday, came to the police station and registered a complaint in this regard. They could manage to do it only after Suraj, Bhat’s secondwife, took him out to on the pretext of a visit to Jamnagar town. Dhrol police soon transferred the case to the Rajkot rural police.

The family had shifted to Dhrol only two days ago. Suraj, who married Bhat in 2006, had eloped with her brother-in-law, after which Bhat married Preeti.

Suraj told the police that after her brother-in-law shifted to MP couple of months ago, she came back to live with Bhat in Kherdi, where she came to know about the girl’s rape.

Suraj told the police that knowing the temperament of Bhat they decided to wait for the right time to reveal things.