KENDRAPARA: Aul police on Tuesday registered a case of dowry harassment on basis of the complaint lodged by Congress leader Dr Debasmita Sharma against her physician husband.
Debasmita (28), who unsuccessfully contested from Aul Assembly seat as the Congress candidate earlier this year, had filed an FIR in Aul police station on Monday accusing her husband Dr Rahul Pratap Ray of dowry torture.
In her complaint, the Congress leader said her marriage was solemnised with Rahul of Cuttack on December 14, 2022. A few days after her marriage, she was frequently beaten up and humiliated by her husband for failing to meet his demand for more dowry, she alleged.
She further claimed her husband demanded `50 lakh to start a private clinic at Cuttack. When she and her father expressed their inability to arrange the amount, her husband and in-laws started to torture her. Debasmita also alleged that her husband tried to smother her with a pillow in October 2023 with the intention to kill her.
Aul IIC Sabyasachi Satapathy basing on the complaint, police registered a case under sections 109, 85, 125 and 115 of the BNS and section 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act. Further investigation is underway.
Debasmita used to work as a physician in the community health centre (CHC) at Rajkanika before resigning in March this year to contest the Assembly election. Her husband Rahul is also a doctor in SLN Medical College and Hospital in Koraput.
Debasmita’s father Debendra Sharma was elected from Aul Assembly seat in 2014. Her grandfather Dr Dibakar Sharma was also an MLA from Aul.