Jhansi:

An illustration by a four-year-old girl, whose mother was found dead in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi on Monday, has raised suspicion that the woman was assaulted and murdered by her husband, after years of alleged harassment, the police said. 

The incident, which took place at Panchavati Shiv Parivar Colony under Kotwali area of ​​Jhansi, came to light when the 27-year-old woman’s in-laws told her family that she died by suicide. A drawing and a statement of the woman’s daughter, however, suggested that she was killed by her husband, and her body was hanged to make it appear as a suicide.

The woman was identified as Sonali Budholia and her husband, a medical representative, as Sandeep Budholia. Their daughter’s name is Darshita.

“Papa assaulted and killed mummy. He then said ‘die if you want to’. He hanged her body and hit her head with a stone. Later, he brought down the body and dumped it inside a sack,” Darshita, who later lit the pyre, told reporters, as she showed a drawing of the purported assault. 

The child also alleged that her father had threatened to kill her mother earlier. “I had told him once that if you touch my mother, I will break your hand. He used to beat her, saying she should die and that I should meet the same fate as her,” she said. 

Sonali’s father Sanjeev Tripathi, a resident of Tikamgarh district in Madhya Pradesh, said she and Sandeep got married in 2019 but have since shared a troubled relationship.

“On the wedding day, I gave them Rs 20 lakh in cash as dowry but days later, Sandeep and his family began making new demands. They wanted a car. I told them it is beyond my means to buy them a car. He and his family then started assaulting my daughter. I even approached the police over this once and we had arrived at a compromise,” he said.

The situation, however, worsened after Sonali gave birth to a girl, Sanjeev said. “Sandeep wanted a boy. After the delivery, he and his family left my daughter alone in the hospital. I had to go to the nursing home to complete the payment. I took her home. Sandeep came a month later to receive Sonali and Darshita,” he said. 

Sanjeev said recently, Sonali was attending her cousin’s wedding in Jhansi’s Samthar when Sandeep called and asked her to return home. 

“This morning, I got a call, saying my daughter’s health has deteriorated. After some time, I received another call, saying she hung herself. As soon as I reached there, I learnt that she was dead,” he said. 

Kotwali City Police officer Ramveer Singh said the body has been sent for an autopsy and the report is awaited.

“We got a call about the woman’s death at her husband’s house under mysterious circumstances. Her parents have alleged that she was murdered. We are probing the case,” Mr Singh said.

(With inputs from Vinod Kumar Gautam)

A school teacher allegedly beat up an eight-year-old boy who found him watching an obscene film in the classroom, in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi, police said on Saturday.

The student, along with his classmates, was reportedly laughing at the teacher Kuldeep Yadav over watching the video in the classroom, when he grabbed the boy by his hair and slammed his head against the wall.

The teacher has been taken into custody for questioning and a probe is underway, the police added.

According to the student’s father, Mr Yadav was reportedly watching a porn video on his mobile phone in the classroom, when the students started discussing his act and laughing among themselves. 

“The students’ reaction angered Mr Yadav, who then abused and brutally thrashed my son. He grabbed my son by his hair and slammed his head against the wall. He also thrashed him with a cane. My son sustained injuries, including in his ear. I have registered a police complaint against the teacher,” the victim’s father said. 

Superintendent Of Police (Rural) Gopinath Soni said a case has been filed and a detailed probe is underway. “We have taken the teacher into custody for questioning,” Mr Soni said.

Jhansi/Lucknow:

Tragedy struck Jhansi, a city about 100 km from Gwalior, hours before Friday midnight as a massive fire engulfed a ward meant for infants at a government hospital. As the city now struggles to cope with its loss, visuals from the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College paint a painful image of the grief-stricken parents.

A woman lay motionless on the land, too shocked to express her grief, as her relatives tried to console her. Beside her, a man struggled to hold up his grief-stricken wife and cried, “mera bachcha jal gaya (my child has been burnt)”.

Bhagwati, mother of an infant, recounted how she pulled a daring stunt to save her child from the burning war. “Everyone was screaming as the ward went up in flames. They were picking up the babies and handing them outside the windows. I ran inside, picked my baby, and came out,” she said.

Visuals last night showed men handing over the babies one by one across the window as a crowd gathered outside.

“No one came for our rescue,” said another woman.

At least 54 children were in the ward when a short-circuit possibly caused the fire. 44 of them could be rescued, officials confirmed this morning, stating that seven of the victims have been identified.

A senior official said early this morning at least 16 infants injured in the fire are still battling for life.

The parents of some of the injured children alleged they are not being allowed to meet their babies who are undergoing treatment, sparking a flash protest on the hospital premises. Sources suggest the parents were not allowed to meet their babies to avoid any confusion over their identities.

Political Blame Game

A bitter blame game has erupted over the fire incident with the opposition alleging negligence by the hospital administration. Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav has suggested that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath must leave his election campaigns and focus on the health facilities in the state.

The Congress, too, has alleged the administration’s failure with the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi calling for strict action against the guilty.

Yogi Adityanath, addressing a rally today, called it a tragic incident and expressed condolences to the victims’ families. The centre and the state have announced separate financial assistance for the victims’ families and the injured.

Jhansi:

In a shocking incident, a man gave triple talaq to his wife on a moving train and then fled.

The incident occurred just before the Jhansi Junction on April 29 when Mohammad Arshad, 28, was travelling with his wife Afsana, 26.

As the train chugged into the Jhansi station, Arshad gave triple talaq to his wife and got off the train. He also beat his wife before fleeing.

Shocked by the sudden turn of events, Afsana contacted the Government Railway Police, which sent her back to Pukhrayan in Kanpur Dehat, from where she had boarded the train for Bhopal, earlier that day.

An FIR was finally lodged and a manhunt was launched for the accused.

Arshad, a computer engineer employed with a private firm in Bhopal, had married Afsana, a graduate hailing from Kota in Rajasthan, on January 12 this year.

The match was made through a matrimonial advertisement.

When the couple visited Arshad’s ancestral house in the Pukhrayan last week, Afsana was shocked to find that Arshad was already married.

When she confronted him, he and his mother began to harass her for dowry, according to the complaint.

This continued until Arshad finally pronounced the triple talaq and disappeared after abandoning her on the train.

In a video that has since gone viral, Afsana has appealed to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to help her and also take action against such people who divorce women and abandon them.

Circle Officer (CO) Priya Singh said that based on the woman’s complaint, a case has been registered against her husband Arshad, his maternal uncle Aqeel, father Nafeesul Hasan, and mother Parveen.

“The matter will be investigated, and action will be taken,” the CO added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)