PATNA: A man in Bihar’s Vaishali district beat his pregnant wife to death in a fit of anger as she asked him not to continue his addiction for liquor and gambling.
Ganita Devi, in her mid-twenties, was tied up with a rope and mercilessly beaten up with a wooden stick by her husband, Sarjun, in their house in Chakeyaj village under Desri police station area, said her father, Ram Bahadur Paswan, on Sunday. Devi, who was about four months pregnant, had married Sarjun four years ago, he added.
“This man (Sarjun) has been a monster for the past many months. He was so addicted to consuming liquor, smoking ganza and gambling that he had been neglecting his family and harassing my daughter without any reason. He beat her to death on Friday night,” he said, weeping. Ganita had been opposing Sarjun’s addiction and rude behaviour since the beginning of their marriage, he added.
A complaint has been lodged against Sarjun by Paswan, but police are apparently yet to take any action on the basis of the complaint. The accused is, meanwhile, absconding, said a police official.
Despite the Bihar government’s stress on total prohibition after a law with strict penal provisions was implemented eight months ago, most parts of the state’s rural hinterland still remain in the grips of consumption of liquor and narcotic substances. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been leading a strong campaign in favour of prohibition and asking people to prevent consumption of liquor.
Huge quantities of country-made and foreign liquor get seized by police and excise officials almost on a daily basis across the state. In a few places, however, the drive for prohibition is being carried out by local women. It was on the request of Bihar’s women that Nitish Kumar had promised in 2015 to implement prohibition if he formed the government after the Assembly polls.