Police in Bhubaneswar have arrested a couple on charges of torturing and starving the man’s 7-year-old daughter from his earlier marriage.
Arrest-handcuffs.
Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissioner of Police Saumendra Priyadarshi said the man from Barahal village under Balipatna police station and his third wife were charged with attempt to murder the girl born from the man’s second marriage.
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The seven-year-old child weighs barely 5 kilograms. “The malnourished child has been admitted in Capital Hospital with several burn marks on her body. The child was beaten everyday, and kept chained in the veranda of their house for days together,” said the police commissioner.
Police said the man had married for a second time in 2013 after divorcing his first wife. In 2014, a girl was born to the couple. However, the second wife left for her parents’ along with the child in 2014 after the man allegedly started torturing her.
The man got married for a third time. In March 2020, he got the girl’s custody after an official separation from his second wife. That was when the alleged torture began.His ex-wife said that social activist Md Jamil Akhtar, with the help of NGO Childline, rescued the girl.
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“My daughter told me that she was beaten with broom and kicked often. Why did he (ex-husband) take her custody if he had to torture my daughter? They must be punished for subjecting the child to such torture,” she said.
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“My daughter told me that she was beaten with broom and kicked often. Why did he (ex-husband) take her custody if he had to torture my daughter? They must be punished for subjecting the child to such torture,” she said.
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Childline director Benudhar Senapati said, “Her father and stepmother took out their frustration on her. They used to beat her every day,” he said.
The man, however, dismissed the allegations of torture and attributed his daughter’s poor health to psychological stress. “She inflicted the injuries on herself by putting her fingers into boiling milk when I was away,” he said.
Police said apart from attempt to murder charges, the couple has been charged under relevant Sections of Indian Penal Code and Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.
