Pune: Cops rescue man tortured by wife for property

Pune: A 37-year-old woman has been arrested by officials of the Market Yard police station for violence against her 45-year-old husband, allegedly for his property. The police said the woman tied her husband’s hands with a rope and beat him black and blue, and inflicted burn injuries on him with an iron and deep cuts on his fingers with a kitchen knife. The man was rescued from his home on Sunday morning after the police went to investigate bloodstains found at his shop in Market Yard, where his wife allegedly first attacked him the previous night. The arrested woman was identified as Shobha Sanjay Talekar, a resident of Katraj.

The police said the complainant, Sanjay Talekar, was a vegetable trader at Market Yard. They said he registered a complaint against his wife on Sunday after she thrashed him at his Market Yard shop as well as at his Katraj residence on Saturday night. Sanjay, who is in hospital, said his wife had been harassing him for three years to make him leave her and give her his property. “I have been married to Shobha for almost 17 years and we have a 13-year-old son, but over the past three years I have been subjected to mental and physical harassment by her to force me to put all my property, including the flat, in her name and also to force me to leave her,” Sanjay said.

He said he would often stay at his shop just to avoid the daily harassment. “On Saturday night, I was sleeping at my shop when Shobha came there and again started fighting with me over the property,” he said. “I told her I will give half of the property to her since she is my wife, but she demanded that I should give her everything, including the flat where we live. When I objected, she assaulted me on my fingers with a knife and also beat me. She then took me to our flat, where she again resorted to violence with the help of my 13-year-old son.”

He said that at their flat his wife tied him up with their son’s help and burnt him with an iron before inflicting more injuries with a knife. “She gave me burn injuries on my legs and on my back with a hot iron and, again taking out a knife, inflicted deep cuts on the fingers of both my hands,” he said. “She also kicked me and beat me with sticks.”

He said the police rescued him the next morning. “I was fortunate as the police rushed to my place in the morning and rescued me from her clutches,” he said. “I was then rushed to the hospital, where I am undergoing treatment.” Police Inspector (Crime) Vilas Sondhe of the Market Yard police station said they were called to Sanjay’s shop in the morning by traders as there were bloodstains there.

“We got a call from some vegetable traders on Sunday morning informing about bloodstains at one of the shops in Market Yard,” he said. “We rushed to the spot and after investigating we presumed that somebody had been murdered as there were a lot of bloodstains at the shop. When learnt the shop belongs to Sanjay Talekar, we got his address from other traders and went there.”

Sondhe said Sanjay’s wife gave misleading answers after opening the door. “When we knocked on the door, the accused woman opened it, and when we asked her about Talekar, she gave us vague answers and tried to avoid us,” Sondhe said. “As we got suspicious, we entered the flat and started checking the room and found Sanjay in the bedroom. His clothes were soaked in blood and he was in a semi-conscious state.”

The police took Sanjay to a hospital and arrested Shobha. “As he was severely injured, we rushed Sanjay to a nearby hospital and after recording his statement, in which he said that he had been assaulted by his wife and son over property,” Sondhe said. Shobha was arrested under Section 324 (causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the IPC.

Accomplice involvement suspected

A police official said that while it was true that Sanjay Talekar was assaulted and stabbed by his wife, it was suspected that there must have been someone else who was involved in the attack as she on her own inflicting such injuries sounded incredible. “It is not clear why Sanjay is not taking any other name. We are going to speak to him again later,” the official said.