CUTTACK: The alleged suicide bid of a 24-year-old woman and her brother-in-law, who jumped into Kathajodi river from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose bridge near Trisulia on Friday night, took a new turn after the duo appeared at Purighat police station on Saturday much to the surprise of fire personnel who were toiling hard to trace them.
The woman, Barsha Lenka of Ramachandi in Banki and her 35-year-old brother-in-law Krushna Muduli told police that they spent the night in the river but did not reveal who rescued them and how.
The duo said they decided to end their lives due to harassment by Barsha’s husband Pradyumna and his sister (Krushna’s wife) who suspected them of being in an illicit relationship. “But God saved us. We were swept away and brought to the river bank on Saturday morning,” they said.
However, a fire officer of Barang was sceptical of their version. “We launched the search operation on Friday night immediately after locals informed us about the duo’s suicide attempt. The search operation was halted late in the night. We resumed the search on Saturday morning. It is hard to believe that they survived the strong currents of the river and emerged unscathed,” he said.
While mystery shrouds the entire incident, Purighat police released Barsha and Krushna after conducting their medical examination.
“Both are adults. While Barsha is a mother of two children, Krushna is a father of a 14-year-old girl. As no complaint has been filed, we have nothing to do in the incident,” said Purighat IIC JN Sethy.
Meanwhile, Pradyumna claimed Barsha used to leave his home and stay with Krushna at Nima Sahi in Cuttack regularly. “I had disowned Barsha for keeping illicit relationship with Krushna,” he added.