Woman swims for 12 hrs, escapes murder

A woman swam for 12 hours to survive to tell the harrowing tale of how her husband pushed her off a bridge in Patna. The husband wanted to be ‘free of her’. Mukesh K Mishra reports.

In a bizarre incident, Adarsh Kumar allegedly pushed his wife Ambika Kumari (25) off the Gandak bridge at the confluence of Gandak and Ganga late on Wednesday night. He wanted to be ‘free of her’, Alamganj police, which registered the case, told HT.

HT Image

However, Thursday morning ushered in a new life for Ambika, an expert swimmer.

Alert boatmen and locals of Rasulpur village in Patori police station area of Samsatipur district saved her, about 60 km downstream.

A police officer said Ambika, a resident of Aurangabad, had arrived in Patna some ten days ago from Amritsar (Punjab). “Adarsh along with his two friends lured Ambika on the pretext of driving up to Hajipur in a car. As their car reached the bridge at around 8 pm on Wednesday, Adarsh stopped the vehicle, got down and asked his wife Ambika to come near the railing to enjoy the sight of the river and feel the cool breeze,” he added.

“In the course of chatting, Adarsh allegedly pushed Ambika into the Ganga. He and his two friends then managed to escape from the spot after committing the crime.”

As luck would have it, Ambika was washed ashore after she fell unconscious. On Thursday morning, boatmen and locals of Rasulpur village found her lying unconscious on the banks of the Ganga. They immediately informed the Patori police station. A police team quickly rushed to the spot and took Ambika into custody for debriefing. She was admitted to the primary health centre from where she was discharged after first aid, police said.

During interrogation, Ambika revealed that she had fallen in love with Adarsh some years ago in Amritsar where they used to work together. Later, they decided to marry. “We were married one-and-a-half years ago in Amritsar. But Adarsh did not reveal anything about our marriage to his family. He had disclosed about his marriage only to his mother,” she told the police.

“For the last ten days I was living with Adarsh and his mother in Jakkanpur area of Patna,” Ambika added.

Sub-divisional police officer of Patori Arun Kumar said the police were still recording the statement of Ambika.

“She claimed that her husband, his relative and a friend allegedly pushed her from the bridge. I have informed SHO of Alamganj police station to pick up Ambika for further investigations,” he added.