Odisha Woman Lodged Abduction Case, Moved OHRC & Orissa HC: Case Turns Out False; Know Why

Bhubaneswar: Four years after a woman alleged that her husband and son had been abducted, it has finally turned out to be a false case. The man and his son have been traced. And when the police found them, the woman was also living with them.

More than the family, police are relieved as the woman, who brought the charges, even moved the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) and the Orissa High Court.

“We were on our toes for four years as the woman moved OHRC and HC. Khurda Superintendent of Police and two former inspectors of Tangi police station had to personally appear before the commission to apprise it of the case status,” Manas Barik, Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Balugaon, was quoted as saying by a newspaper.

But it turns out, while the police searched for the “kidnapped” man and his son, the woman knew where they were and had been meeting them.

Here’s the case history in short.

In 2018, the village committee of Harbaradi in Odisha’s Khurda district had ordered that no one from the village should go to the Chilika Lake for fishing. When Arun Behera (53) and his son Manas (25) ignored the warning and went to catch fish, the committee allegedly imposed a fine of ₹5,000 on the family.

Father and son fled the village. Behera’s wife lodged a complaint at Tangi police station that they had been kidnapped. She also moved OHRC and HC.

On April 18, a Tangi police team found the father and son along with the woman in Gopalpur village in Nayagarh district. Earlier, the police had raided different places in Puri, Khurda and Nayagarh districts.

According to reports, the woman was probably misguided by a human rights activist, who told her that the government would pay huge compensation if her husband and son were not found in time. Police said they would investigate the allegation.