A high-profile family dispute has emerged in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. A female bank manager has filed a dowry and harassment case against her husband, who is a politician. The husband is a prominent Congress Party leader.
She said that her husband demanded two crore rupees in dowry and, when she refused, he beat her and threw her out of the house. Based on the wife’s complaint, the police have registered an FIR against the Congress leader under sections of assault and dowry harassment.
On the other hand, the Congress leader claims his wife has been blackmailing him for 15 years. She filed the FIR after he filed a divorce notice.
This story is a bit twisted. This is the second marriage for both the husband and wife, and they have been married for 19 years. The manager was first married to an IAS Officer. She left her IAS husband and married the politician.
The name of the lady in the news is Shikha Singh. Coming from a well-educated family, Shikha holds an MBA degree and has relatives who have held high positions in the government departments. In 2003, she married an IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre.
Shikha herself was working as a manager in a reputed bank. She met the politician, Mahendra Singh Chauhan, casually. At that time, Chauhan was the chairman of NITTTR. Shikha says, “He started visiting me frequently at the bank. He started instigating me to separate from my IAS husband, and he succeeded.”
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He spoke such emotional words about his wife that Shikha became emotionally attached to him. While Shikha was getting attracted to the politician, her family warned her strictly.
Her father warned her bluntly, “You’ll end up on the streets from Char Imli (the residential area for IAS officers).” Every member of the family opposed the relationship, as Chauhan was not only married but also 20 years older than Shikha. But Shikha left her IAS husband and married the politician.
The first few years after marriage were good. Shikha moved in with Chauhan and his two children. They even had a son of their own. But this happiness did not last long. Shikha alleges that soon she began to face restrictions. She was treated cruelly and harassed for dowry.
The decision to marry was mine, so I swallowed the poison and remained silent. In her application to the Bhopal Police Commissioner, Shikha stated that her husband’s behavior became increasingly cruel after two or three years of marriage. She was pressured to bring money from her parents’ home. She was told to demand a share in her parents’ property. When she refused, she was beaten.
He was also cruel to my son. He would get angry and lock me and my son in a room. She recounts an incident that sends chills down my spine. “One day, my husband mixed some poisonous substance into my juice and gave it to me. After drinking it, my condition deteriorated, and I fainted. When I regained consciousness, I was in the hospital.”
The dispute reached its peak when Chauhan allegedly threatened to kill her by brandishing his licensed gun. The matter reached its peak on February 9th, when, according to Shikha, at 2 p.m., her husband assaulted her at home and threw her out. He locked the gate outside the house and threatened to kill her if she didn’t bring 2 crore rupees and a car from her parents’ house.
Apart from allegations of domestic violence, Shikha has also accused her husband of fraud. She said that Chauhan forged her signature and removed her from the post of director of two NGOs, Jan Shikshan Sansthan, Narsinghpur and Narmadapuram, and appointed his own people. She has also complained about this matter to the Ministry of Skill Development, Government of India.
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Mahendra Singh Chauhan said that it is a well-planned conspiracy. He says that the relationship had deteriorated long ago, and it had become difficult to live together. Hence, he sent a divorce notice to Shikha. After the divorce notice was given, Shikha filed this FIR against me.
The case seems to be a bit filmy. A woman working in a reputed bank left her IAS husband and remarried to a politician, and now again the divorce proceedings have started.
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