Pune: Police rescue Kargil war veteran’s wife from son’s captivity

Shikha Chaurasia

Pune, July 22 2020: Army veteran SN Jha’s wife Lalitha Devi was brought back with the help of Vishrantwadi police station officials from his son who held her captive for two months in Badlapur.

Lalitha Devi was admitted to Ruby Hall Clinic for two months and after her discharge, her son took her to Badlapur. Jha (67) had no information as he was kept out of the loop. When Jha finally contacted his wife, she told him that their son has held her captive and is not looking after her properly. She also told Jha that she was being mentally harassed and wishes to return to Pune.

Their son had held Jha’s wife captive because he resented the amount of money spent on his siblings (two sisters) for their education and demanded the money back to keep for himself. He did not like the fact that Jha had educated his daughters as well.

When Jha went to Badlapur to get his wife back, his son did not comply with the wishes of his father and demanded a sum Rs 50 lakh as compensation for the amount spent on his sisters’ education.

After failed attempts, Jha wrote to Pune police, Chief Minister’s office and the Prime Minister’s office from where he did not receive any kind of response. He then went to the Vishrantwadi police station who agreed to help him.

Senior Police Inspector Arun Avhad said that armed with a court notice, Constables Sanjay Aswale and Vijay Sawant were sent to Badlapur who searched the house along with two lady cops and constables from Badlapur police station. Jha’s son was reluctant to let his mother go. However, our team informed him about the legal repercussions of holding back a person against his/her will. He was lucky that the parents did not wish to file a case against him. The team brought Jha’s wife to Pune.