BJP Rajya Sabha member from Chhattisgarh Nand Kumar Sai has landed in an unsavoury controversy when his daughter-in-law levelled charges of torture and harassment against him.
The alleged victim, Hemanti Sai (42), has approached the Kanwar Samaj (elders of her tribe) seeking justice for her after accusing Mr Sai and his son, her husband, of tormenting her mentally and physically for the past several years branding her as a “black magician”. She has also not been allowed to meet her two sons.
“We have been forced to make representation to the Samaj seeking justice for my daughter, after all our efforts to resolve the matter amicably with her in-laws failed. The Kanwar Samaj has convened its panchayat (meeting) on April 28 to take a final decision on it”, Hemanti’s father, Gangaram Mungel, told reporters here on Tuesday.
In his reaction, Mr Sai, a tribal leader of Jashpur district in north Chhattisgarh, denied the charges saying “I am shocked to learn that my daughter-in-law has levelled charges of torture and harassment against me before the Kanwar Samaj. Since, the matter is pending with the Samaj, it will not be appropriate for me to give comment on the matter. I will honour whatever decision the Samaj takes on the issue”.
He however described the charges as “politically motivated”.
Narrating her ordeal before reporters, Hemanti alleged that she was asked by her in-laws to go to her mother for a week after a tiff with her husband, Arvind Sai, several years ago. But, when none from her in-law’s family came to take her back, she on her own had returned to them. The in-laws had however driven her out of the house accusing her of practising black magic. “I was even not allowed to see my children. I hail from a poor family. I had to work as a labourer to feed myself. I have no money to knock the court door for justice. I kept mum for six years, but was forced to approach the Samaj for justice when I could bear no more the separation from my children,” she said. Gangaram claimed that her tribe people tried to strike a compromise between her and her in-laws. But, no compromise could be reached because of her husband.