Seven years after a woman in Odisha disappeared from her village leading to the arrest of her husband over allegations that she had been murdered for dowry, the woman was found living with another man in Puri district.
The police in Kendrapara district on Monday found Itishree Maharana alias Jhilirani living with her auto driver husband Rajiv Maharana at a rented home in Pipili area of Puri district, 7 years after she had left her husband Abhay Sutar.
Police officials said Itishree Maharana from Jagatsinghpur district had been married to Sutar of Chaulia village in Kendrapara district in February 2013.
Sixteen days after their marriage, Itishree went with her husband to her parent’s place in Samagola village of Jagatsinghpur, but was reluctant to come back to her in-laws place alleging that she was being tortured for dowry. The woman’s father Prahallad Maharana, however, managed to send his daughter back to her in-laws place in Chaulia village and even accompanied her there.
Soon after she came back, the woman complained of stomach ache and went to a nearby river. “I accompanied her to the river bank so that she could attend nature’s call. There I spotted a car and asked her about it. She then came back home and slept. But early in the morning I did not find my wife at home,” said Abhay Sutar.
{{/usCountry}}Soon after she came back, the woman complained of stomach ache and went to a nearby river. “I accompanied her to the river bank so that she could attend nature’s call. There I spotted a car and asked her about it. She then came back home and slept. But early in the morning I did not find my wife at home,” said Abhay Sutar.
{{/usCountry}}Later, the woman’s father lodged a complaint with the Patkura police station alleging that his daughter was murdered for dowry following which police arrested Sutar under Sections 307 and 498(B) of Indian Penal Code. Sutar spent around 3 months behind bars before he could get bail. His family managed to get bail from the court after fighting a long legal battle.
Patkura police station inspector Sujit Pradhan said after getting reports about the woman living in Pipili area of Puri, a police team raided her house. “We nabbed the woman and then recorded her statement under Section 164 of CrPC. She had left her husband to be with one Rajiv Maharana. They went to Gujarat and got married. The couple have two children from their marriage. Recently, Rajiv came back to Odisha and started working as an auto driver in Bhubaneswar,” said Pradhan. Police said they had closed the case against the woman’s former husband after she was found.
The woman’s former husband said he suffered mental and financial strain because of the evil designs of his wife and carelessness in the investigation. “If I had killed my wife, why could the police not find her body. My wife’s father and brother must be arrested for filing false cases as they knew that I did not torture her or kill her,” he said.
Meanwhile, an activist named Pratap Chandra Mohanty of Kendrapara on Monday lodged a complaint before the National Human Rights Commission demanding action against police officials for their careless investigation.