Chamoli boils as woman dumps alcoholic spouse

Maheshi Devi, meanwhile, has told the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Chamoli district that she was tired of putting up with a drunkard husband, Sohan Singh, who tortured her for seven years.

According to the woman, she ran away from her husband’s home on the night of December 30. After a day’s search, her in-laws and the panchayat members traced her to Kunbagad village, where they found her living with one Jagat Singh, a widower with four children.

‘‘I am living here out of my free will,’’ Maheshi Devi says, a statement that she has repeated before the SDM.

The woman adds that she was tortured by her in-laws too, as she did not have any children. ‘‘My father-in-law spat on my face thrice for failing to conceive. But I was helpless, as my husband is impotent,’’ Maheshi Devi told the SDM, Udai Singh Rana.

The district administration had sent Rana to probe the alleged sale of Maheshi Devi in an open auction. ‘‘The inquiry has revealed that there was no ‘auction’ of the woman but Jagat Singh, with whom Maheshi Devi has been living, has been asked to pay Rs 6,000 to her previous husband,’’ District Magistrate Ajai Singh Nabiyal said.

Jagat Singh has even admitted to paying the money to Sohan Singh, the SDM said. Now, the woman’s father, Sabar Singh, is also showing interest in his daughter’s future. ‘‘Earlier he had refused to help her,’’ he said.

The administration has registered cases against both Sohan Singh and Jagat Singh for their alleged complicity in the ‘‘transfer’’ of the woman.