Boxer Mary Kom had left many stunned as she split from her husband of more than 20 years in 2023. The Olympian had also released a statement last year as rumours swirled — denying claims that she was involved with someone else. Kom claimed during a recent interview that Karung Onkholer had cheated her out of crores of rupees, took out loans in her name, mortgaged her property and even transferred assets to his own name without her consent. Her ex-husband has since denied the claims and levelled fresh allegations of infidelity and consequent marital issues for over a decade.
“She was having an affair with a junior boxer in 2013. Our families had a fight, and after that, we compromised. And since 2017, she’s been having a relationship (with someone) working at the Mary Kom Boxing Academy. I have their WhatsApp messages as proof. I have proof, with the name of the person with whom she was having an affair. I remained silent,” Onler told IANS.
The Olympian bronze medallist recently told PTI about the “darkest phase” of her life — including a painful divorce, near bankruptcy and a quiet emotional collapse. She claimed that her marriage had fallen apart while she was recovering from an injury in 2022 and first came to know that she was “living a lie”.
“What is the point of my achievements? Kya fayda, I have been left broken but I can’t even afford to grieve. Because I have four kids to take care of, parents who are dependent on me. I haven’t and don’t wish to take any police action but just leave me alone, stop slandering me…I have been called greedy by people who know nothing about what I went through,” she said during the interview with PTI.
‘Bring proof’
Onler has since denied claims of financial wrongdoing and insisted that his current living situation contradicted the allegations. He also insisted that he had supported his wife through various phases of her career and felt deeply hurt by the accusations.
“She mentioned the property and asked my name to be erased. She said I stole 5 crores. Check my account. For 18 years of marriage, we were together. And then, this? She’s mad. I had been living with her for 18 years. What am I having? Look at my house. I’m staying in a rented house in Delhi. She’s a celeb. Whatever she says, some will listen, and some won’t,” he said.
He demanded that Mary Kom “bring proof” of her claims — adding that he didn’t want to fight in court “because I love my children”.
“Bring proofs for all the claims, and prove if I have crores. Why are they blaming me for stealing money? She was talking about the loan worth crores I took during the election. What’s the proof? Money is being spent on elections. I borrowed money from my friends,” he added.
What did Mary Kom say?
The six-time world champion recently gave an interview to PTI — saying she had decided to speak up as the “slander has gone too far” and was making a “mockery” of her situation. The 43-year-old Mary Kom was married to fellow Manipur resident Onler for over two decades before separating in 2023.
“Things were fine till I was competing and had very little involvement in my finances but when I got injured before the 2022 Commonwealth Games, I realised I was living a lie. I was bed-ridden for several months, needed a walker after that. It was then that I realised that the man I had trusted was not what I believed him to be. I did not want it to be a spectacle for the world so I sought a divorce after several attempts to resolve it between us,” she said.
Mary Kom said Onler had “kept taking loans” and even transferred her property to his nae and mortgaged it. She alleged that her husband had also borrowed money from locals in Churachandpur. These individuals had later seized the land “through underground groups” to recover the money from him. The boxer said she had eventually informed the two families that the marriage could not continue — adding that they had “understood”.