Father Recognizes Body With Smashed Head, Suspects Behind Bars, Then A Surprise
Lalita Bai, who lived in Madhya Pradesh, was declared dead and even 'cremated' by her relatives.
Bhopal
In a stranger–than-fiction incident, a 35-year-old woman who was thought to have been killed in 2023 has turned up at home, surprising his family and friends.
Lalita Bai, a girl from Madhya Pradesh, was declared dead and even ‘cremated’ by her family. Four men who were arrested for allegedly killing her are in jail even today. But things took a surprising turn a few days ago when she appeared at her village in Mandsaur district alive.
Her father went straight to the Gandhi Sagar Police Station and informed them about her return.
Confirming the case, officer-in-charge Taruna Bhardwaj revealed that she had gone out on her own from home. Ms Bai informed them that a man called Shahrukh had driven her to Bhanpura in the same district. He “sold” her to another man, also named Shahrukh, for Rs 5 lakh. The second man shifted her to Rajasthan’s Kota where she spent 18 months.
Ms Bai reported that she had managed to break away from there and returned home. “I did not possess a mobile phone, hence could not reach my relatives,” she said to the police.
Back with her children after one and a half years, the two-time mother has provided her Aadhaar and Voter IDs to establish her identity to the police.
Lalita Bai, who was presumed dead, turned up alive at her village in Mandsaur district.
The 2023 Murder Case
Ms Bai went missing from the Gandhi Sagar region in September 2023. A truck accident video appeared days later. The victim’s head was crushed. A murder case was registered in Jhabua after her father identified it as that of his daughter.
“After we made a missing persons report, the police from Thandla called us about a woman’s body found with her head smashed. We went and recognized it as our daughter‘s body based on a tattoo and a black thread wrapped around her leg. We even conducted the last rites,” the father stated.
Four men – Imran, Shahrukh, Sonu, Ejaz – were arrested on the ‘murder’ charge. The accused, who are in jail for trial, have now moved a petition in the local court on the grounds of the woman’s reappearance. The court has asked for information regarding the same, said Jhabua Superintendent Police (SP) Padmavilochan Shukla.
“We will first carry out a medical checkup and DNA test of the woman, and also take afresh statements of witnesses. Only after investigating thoroughly, we would be able to say with certainty that the woman who appeared at Gandhi Sagar police station earlier this month is the same woman who was believed to have been killed,” Mr Shukla informed news agency PTI.
