A woman who was considered murdered in 2023 returned home safe and sound nearly two years later on March 11 in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur district, while four men arrested for the assumed killing continue to be in prison.
The woman, 35-year old Lalita Bai, went missing from Gandhi Sagar area of Mandsaur in September 2023 after which a case was registered for her `murder’ at Thandla town in Madhya Pradesh’s Jhabua, according to news agency PTI.
Relatives identified body seeing tattoo
Lalita Bai’s relatives saw a body of a woman with her head crushed and believed it to be her, PTI quoted Gandhi Sagar police station in-charge Taruna Bharadwaj.
“After we had filed a missing person report, Thandla police informed us about the recovery of a woman’s body with her head crushed. We went there and identified it as the body of our daughter on the basis of a tattoo and a black string tied around her leg. We performed the last rites too,” Lalita’s father Nanuram Banchhada said.
How Lalita Bai went missing
Lalita Bai (35), a resident of Navali village, said she left home on her own with a person named Shahrukh and traveled to Bhanpura, where he ‘sold’ her to another person – also named Shahrukh – without her knowledge, for ₹5 lakh.
Lalita Bai alleged that the second man took her to Rajasthan’s Kota, where she stayed with him for nearly 18 months. “However, as soon as I got the opportunity, I ran away and came back… I do not have a mobile phone, so I was unable to contact my family members,” Lalita Bai said.
Police, meanwhile, arrested four men, including Shahrukh, on allegations of luring Lalita Bai away. After her return, her father took her to the Gandhi Sagar police station and informed the officials that she was very much alive.
Gandhi Sagar police then informed cops in Thandla about the development.
What about the 4 jailed for murder?
On the four men who are in prison for Lalita Bai’s murder, it is for the Thandla police to take necessary action, said Mandsaur Superintendent of Police Abhishek Anand.
Jhabua SP Padmavilochan Shukla said that the local court has sought information about the matter, adding that a thorough examination will be done to ascertain if the woman who turned up at Gandhi Sagar police station earlier this month is the same woman who was thought to have been murdered.
“We will first conduct a medical examination and DNA test of the woman, and also record afresh the statements of witnesses,” he said.