Subrata Mukherjee/TNN
Behrampore, Jun 12: You could call it Bengal’s heart of darkness. Unable to repay a loan he had taken for his wedding, a Murshidabad man ‘mortgaged’ his wife and vanished. For two years, the woman was allegedly raped and kept confined in the moneylender’s house.
When she went to police, they allegedly did nothing. Every time she sought help, they ignored her, she says.
The shocking incident took place at Jhikra village in Murshidabad’s Bharatpur area. When the woman married tailor Toton Sheikh five years ago, he borrowed some money from Rahamani Sheikh, a rich businessman from neighbouring Surpara village. The couple was finding it difficult to pay back the Rs 5,000 (at a hefty interest) when they had to borrow money again for their son’s birth.
Toton could pay back only Rs 3,000. Rahamani started pressuring him and a desperate Toton decided to quit tailoring and go to Delhi with a mason’s job. When Rahamani learnt of this, he confronted Toton and demanded that he leave something as mortgage.
“We are very poor and my husband had nothing to mortgage. So he decided to let Rahamani keep me till he came back from Delhi. I refused to go but as my husband kept pleading, I gave in. He said he would be back in six months, but two years have passed and I’ve not heard from him,” said Toton’s wife. “The moneylender forced me to have sex with him. After six months, I tried to return home, but he locked me up.”
About a year ago, she managed to sneak out to Bharatpur police station to lodge a complaint against the moneylender. But police refused to act, she said. “On June 7, I complained to the police again, but they again refused. Rahamani pays them a bribe every month.”
Rahamani left for a relative’s home a week back, allegedly threatening to kill her if she tried to flee. Toton’s father Sadu Sheikh pleaded ignorance. “My son works in Delhi. I don’t know where my daughter-in-law is as I have broken all ties with her since Toton left,” he said.
Murshidabad SP Basab Dasgupta promised to take action if police were found guilty. A circle inspector will probe the matter immediately.