Married man in Udalguri
The accused, Ganesh Talukdar at Tangla PS on Tuesday. Image credit - Northeast Now

In a turn of events, a 54-year-old married man of Assam’s Udalguri has been arrested after a 31-year-old woman, he was in a relationship with, died due to pregnancy-related complications.

The woman died at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on October 14, 2021.

The accused has been identified as Ganesh Talukdar.

Ganesh Talukdar was arrested from his rented house of Kalaigaon and was produced before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Udalguri on Monday.

The court remanded him to two-day police custody.

Ganesh Talukdar was arrested on the basis of an FIR lodged by the Udalguri district committee of Nari Adhikar Suraksha Samiti at Tangla police station.

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In the FIR, the women’s rights body alleged that the victim was lured and abused physically and mentally on the promise of a job after which she went missing from her residence on October 4 and both the foetus and the mother died at GMCH due to pregnancy-related complications on October 14.

“We have lodged an FIR after the matter was brought to our notice by the victim’s family members,” said the president of the Udalguri chapter of Nari Adhikar Suraksha Samiti, Runumi Bora.

“The victim was not provided proper medical care during pregnancy and the foetus was found dead and later the victim also died during treatment at GMCH,” Bora said.

She further demanded a proper investigation into the case and justice be delivered to the bereaved family members of the victim.

“We have registered a case vide Tangla PS case no. 164 /21 under section 417/493/314/201/302 of IPC and are investigating the matter, and the post-mortem report is awaited,” said Tangla PS officer-in-charge Tridip Kumar Dutta.

However, the accused, Ganesh Talukdar claimed he was maintaining marital life with the victim for the last one year.

Meanwhile, the conscious circle of Tangla town has demanded that the matter be properly investigated and justice be delivered to the bereaved family.

Shajid Khan is Northeast Now Correspondent in Udalguri. He can be reached at: [email protected]