Yavatmal: An Arni woman, who lost her husband recently, was allegedly sold for Rs1.20 lakh by her in-laws and forcibly married to a stranger in Gujarat. The case came to light after the woman returned to her maternal home and filed a complaint. Four accused have now been arrested in connection with the incident.According to police sources, the woman worked as a daily wage labourer to support her two minor children. In June 2023, her sister-in-law and brother-in-law invited her under the pretext of a family visit and took her to Madhya Pradesh. From there, she was taken to Gujarat where she was forcibly married off to a man named Suresh Chousani. Later, the man told the woman that he had paid Rs80,000 cash to her relatives who had sold her for Rs1.20 lakh.All through this ordeal, the woman was alienated from her children. She somehow managed to return to her parental home along with one of her children and narrated the harrowing experience to her family. A formal complaint was then lodged at the Arni police station.Based on the complaint, police arrested Suresh Chousani, brother-in-law Sandip Surjosher, father-in-law Ganesh Bhele and mother-in-law Darshana Bhele.Police Inspector Nilesh Suradkar, who is leading the investigation, said, “We uncovered this shocking episode while investigating a missing person’s case. The woman narrated the entire incident following which an FIR was registered. Given the gravity of the crime, all four accused have been taken into custody.”The whereabouts of the woman’s second minor child remain unknown, and efforts are on to locate the child.
