In an ironic turn of events, a 19-year-old Hindu woman from Bhopal whom BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur was persuading to get her to end her relationship with a 27-year-old Muslim man, has gone missing amid allegations that she eloped with her lover.
The woman MP had also taken the girl to watch the ‘Kerala Story’ in a bid to convince her to change her mind regarding her relationship just days before she allegedly eloped.
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The matter relates to May 15 when the woman allegedly locked her family members inside the house and went missing, the complaint states. They also claimed Rs 70,000 in cash, as well as gold and silver jewellery, is missing, reports The Indian express.
On May 19, the police issued a lookout notice after the woman’s family filed a missing complaint.
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The Muslim man’s family, meanwhile, fears repercussions of his actions and said that they would not accept the woman in the family household.
The SHO of Bhopal’s Kamla Nagar police station, Anil Bajpai said, “We are currently trying to track the missing woman and will record her version, following which future course of action will be taken.”
The man has “seven eight criminal cases pending against him for getting into fights in the locality”, reported Indian express, citing the SHO.
The officer, however, offered no confirmation on whether the woman watched the Kerala story with Pragya Thakur.
The complaint registered by the woman’s mother said she had previously gone missing on May 11, though the woman “turned up in a burqa” and informed her family that she had married the Muslim man.
The Muslim man’s father had signed an affidavit in January and advertised in the newspaper that he had disowned his son legally. “I was tired of my son’s antics. He would fight with the locals, and would come home inebriated and create a ruckus. I used to stand surety for my son, but one day I just gave up. He is no son of mine. Now, because of his antics, my whole family is under threat,” he said.
The man’s family is fearing consequences of the relationship,“Her family has been threatening us. We will not accept the woman into our household,” his sister claimed.
The woman went missing after her family took her to a local counseling at the Gauravi One-Stop Crisis Centre, which was set up by the Madhya Pradesh government to help women victims of violence.
“We took our daughter to local counsellors… At the counselling centre, my daughter removed her jewellery and handed it to us, saying that she didn’t want anything to do with us. She even threatened to commit suicide if she was not allowed to be with that man,” said the girl’s mother.
The family later took her to a counselling session with BJP MP Pragya Thakur. A source close to Thakur told Indian Express, “Sadhvi ji spent a whole day, leaving all her work, and spoke to the woman. The woman then promised to leave that man.”
The woman’s 48-year-old father said, “We tried everything to keep our daughter away from a history-sheeter. But she refused to listen.”