Akhilesh Yadav keeps Sushma’s request, Russian bahu united with in-laws

Later, thanking Akhilesh, Swaraj tweeted: “Thank you Akhilesh ji for resolving this. Such incidents affect country’s image.”

WATCH VIDEO: Russian Daughter-In-Law From Agra Thanks Sushma Swaraj For Taking Prompt Action

Earlier in the day, the Agra police had lodged an FIR against the in-laws of Olga Efimenkova, a day after she began a hunger strike seeking action against them over alleged dowry demands and torture. The police response had come hours after Swaraj tweeted a picture of Efimenkova with a message asking Akhilesh to “help this lady”.

READ | Sushma Swaraj asks Akhilesh Yadav to help this Russian Bahu in Agra

Efimenkova, who got married to one Vikrant Singh Chandel of Agra in 2011, lived with their three-year-old daughter Dasaha in Goa where Vikrant ran a restaurant. When his business suffered losses, the family of three moved to his hometown last month, setting off a dispute reportedly over property.

In her complaint to the police, Efimenkova alleged that her mother-in-law Nirmala Chandel tortures her mentally for not bringing dowry and has refused to let them into the house. “My mother-in-law mentally tortures me for being a foreigner and pressures me for dowry. She has kicked me out of the home along with my daughter and my husband,” said Efimenkova, who speaks fluent Hindi. Her husband told police that his mother has given his share of property to his elder sister Saumya Pal, who lives in New Delhi.

READ | Russian woman sits on hunger strike for ‘torture over dowry’

New Agra police station Inspector A K Singh said “it’s a family dispute over property”. Police have registered an FIR against Nirmala Chandel, her brother Rajendra Milind, daughter Saumya Pal and another relative under sections 498-A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the IPC.

Nirmala, however, accused Efimenkova of “gambling and consuming drugs” and of taking away whatever money she saves. Police said Nirmala Chandel does not claim to be owner of the house, which belongs to her daughter.

Efimenkova — a postgraduate in Chinese philosophy from Russian State University in Moscow — had demanded share in her husband’s property claiming she has nowhere to go.

(With PTI inputs)