A 35-year-old woman, who was locked up inside a toilet allegedly by her husband for over a year in Haryana’s Panipat district, was rescued on Wednesday, The Indian Express reported quoting a district women and child welfare department official. The husband has claimed that the woman is mentally unstable.
However, Rajni Gupta, the women protection and child marriage prohibition officer, who led the rescue operation in Rishpur village, said that the woman did not look mentally unstable. Her physical condition indicated that she had not anything for several days, Gupta added.
“We have talked to her [the woman] and it was apparent that she is not mentally unstable,” Gupta said, according to ANI. “We can not confirm whether she is mentally unstable or not, but she was locked in the toilet. We rescued her and washed her hair. We have filed a police complaint.”
Gupta said the woman, a mother of three, was so weak that she could not even walk, according to the Hindustan Times. “She ate 8 chapattis, when we gave her food,” Gupta said, adding that the 35-year-old was not being given proper food and drinking water.
The husband of the woman, Naresh Kumar, said that they had taken her to doctors for her medical condition but it has not improved. “We ask her to sit outside but she does not sit there,” he claimed.
However, Gupta said the woman was able to identify all family members and answer all questions asked to her. The officer also said that Kumar could not submit any document showing that she was mentally unstable.
The police have filed a complaint and an investigation was underway. They said that they will approach doctors to ascertain the mental status of the woman.
The woman has been married to Kumar for the last 17 years. She has three children, including two sons aged 11 and 13 and a 15-year-old daughter.
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