A woman has been tied to electricity pole and thrashed mercilessly in Sindhuli.
A team led by Chief of Sindhuli Police SP Raj Kumar Silwal found Sharada Thapa of Kamalamai Municipality 4, Dhakal Gaun fallen on the ground in an unconscious state but still tied to the pole at around 4:30 Sunday afternoon after being informed about the incident. The villagers who were around Thapa at the time scattered when the police reached there. She was then taken to the Sindhuli Hospital for treatment.
“She was down on the ground in an unconscious state. There were ropes tied to the electricity pole. She has given a statement that she was tied for three days and hit with sticks, fists and legs. We have not talked much with her due to her condition. She is a little better today,” SP Silwal told Setopati on Tuesday.
Sharada has bruises all over her body due to the barbaric thrashing. The police have arrested seven persons including her husband Santosh Thapa.
Sharada was staying in Kathmandu with her son and had returned to Sindhuli just a few days back to initiate divorce process. SP Silwal said that the locals did not seem to have any animosity toward Sharada and she was thrashed due to their financial dealings with her husband.
“Those arrested persons seem to have some animus toward Santosh. We have therefore arrested him as well.”
Sharada had reached the police on Friday claiming that his husband was abducted after he went missing from the court where he had gone for divorce proceedings. She had even named four locals.
The husband was found by the police unharmed, and stated that he did not know the reason for his wife’s complaint. “We then called Sharada. We assumed that she had lodged a false complaint when the phone went off while we tried to verify,” SP Silwal added.
The police now say she may have been taken under control by the local youths as her phone was switched off. They also took Santosh under control when he reached there. The husband and the wife were then tied to a wooden column for a night. The police have acquired pictures of that.
Santosh was freed the next day which led Sharada to conclude that she was abducted in connivance with him.
The locals have told the police that they had lent over Rs 10 million to Santosh and they thrashed Sharada to stop her from divorcing Santosh as that would have led to sharing of his properties with her making debt recovery more difficult. “Those who have been arrested are likely to have thrashed her seeming to believe that she should get a divorce only after they get their money back,” SP Silwal said.
