A 30-year-old woman from Bangladesh has accused a resident of Noida, Uttar Pradesh, of marrying her while he was working for a private company in Dhaka three years ago and then abandoning her and the couple’s one-year-old son.
Ms Sonia Akhtar, who landed in India on Aug 16 on a valid visa, claimed her husband Saurav Kant Tiwari, 45, was already married when he met her in 2021.
She alleged that Mr Tiwari, who worked at Kaltimex Energy Bangladesh, changed his religion to Islam to marry her on April 14, 2021.
In a report to the Noida police on Monday, she said that Mr Tiwari stayed in Bangladesh till Dec 24, 2021, before returning to India.
“Initial probe shows Tiwari lived with Akhtar in Bangladesh for some time after their marriage,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Sureshrao A. Kulkarni. “It seems Tiwari’s first wife, who lives in Noida, became suspicioius and visited Bangladesh where the two women met and discussed the issue.
“Initially, they planned to live together. But then, after Tiwari returned to Noida to be with his first wife, he did not want to go to Bangaladesh again and sought a divorce from Akhtar.”
Ms Akhtar said she tried to establish contact with Mr Tiwari through his mobile phones, but found that all the numbers were unreachable.
She then decided to travel to India.
When she reached Noida, the police detained her and kept her in a detention centre in Sector-62.
Later, the women’s cell of the Noida Police Commissionerate tried to mediate between Mr Tiwari and Ms Akhtar, but did not succeed.
ACP Kulkarni said the woman and her child are now at a care centre.
The Noida police are in a tizzy because Ms Akhtar has made it clear that Mr Tiwari should either return to Bangladesh with her or she will stay with him in Noida.
“The matter has been sent to ACP (Women and Child Safety) for further probe,” the police said in a statement.
The incident comes on the heels of Noida Police arresting Pakistani national Seema Haider for illegally entering India through Nepal to live with her Indian partner Sachin Meena in Greater Noida.
She came along with her four children – all aged below seven – in May and lived in a rented accommodation secretly.
The police arrested her and Mr Meena on July 4, but a local court granted them bail on July 7.
The pair have been living together since, even as the Noida Police and the UP Anti-Terrorist Squad continue separate investigations into the case.
Indo-Asian News Service
