Bhubaneswar: Souridri Sahu, a woman homeguard in Angul district, lost her legs in an alleged suicide attempt. She tried to end her life allegedly unable to bear the torture by the wife of a DIG-ranked official of the Odisha Police.
Souridri Sahu is currently undergoing treatment at a private medical facility in Cuttack.
In her complaint lodged with Homeguard DG Sudhanshu Sarangi, Souridri said that she was engaged by IPS officer Brijesh Kumar Rai at his residence for household work. According to her, Rai’s wife used to beat and humiliate her for neglecting work. Moreover, the IPS officer’s wife allegedly threatened to dismiss Souridri from her job.
The complaint read that Rai’s wife asked the homeguard to wash her clothes on August 4 but the latter expressed her inability to do so citing a leg injury. Subsequently, the DIG’s wife allegedly dragged Souridri out of the house and abused her.
Humiliated over such treatment, the homeguard decided to end her life and she jumped before a moving train. While she was fortunate to survive, Souridri lost her legs in the incident. In her complaint, Souridri has sought compensation for losing her legs and money for her treatment.
Meanwhile, when contacted, DIG Brijesh Kumar Rai refuted the allegations as baseless and motivated saying, “Yes, Souridri was engaged by me and she was mentally disturbed over some personal issue over a period of time. I had suggested she reports her problems to the RI Homeguard so that she could be given some other duty.”
DIG Rai went on to add, “In the meanwhile, she received news of the death of her sister’s son and left our house to attend the boy’s last rites. While returning, she met with an accident where she lost both her legs.”
“All the news about my wife torturing her is baseless and motivated. We don’t know who is behind this,” DIG Rai signed off.
