Agra: The police and municipal corporation authorities in Uttar Pradesh’s Agra are currently engaged in an intensive search operation for a 30-year-old man, who has been reported missing since Tuesday night after being allegedly assaulted by his wife’s brothers following an altercation.
Ravi Kumar Mahaur has been missing for three days now. His aunt, Payal Mahaur, has claimed that his wife Neelam’s brothers assaulted Ravi and pushed him into a flooded storm drain near the Mantola Police Chowki. The wife’s family has, however, maintained innocence.
The alleged incident is said to have occurred late Tuesday night. Heavy rainfall had caused severe flooding in the area as the Nal Mahavir drain overflowed.
Neelam said Ravi had gone to work earlier in the day, and when he did not come back all night, she grew concerned. As she and a few neighbours tried to search for him, a few local people told them he had fallen into the drain and gotten swept away the previous night. Some claimed they watched helplessly as Ravi tried to pull himself out of the drain but got swept away because the flow was too heavy.
After Neelam filed a missing person report, the authorities began the search operation.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (City) Suraj Kumar Rai confirmed that the hunt for the missing man is underway, a collaborated effort by the police and the municipal corporation. “We are using specialised machinery to search the drain from Mantola to the Agra Fort in the hopes of recovering Ravi’s body.”
There are conflicting accounts about what led to the incident. While Ravi’s mother has claimed that he was murdered, some local residents have said that he probably fell into the drain because he was in an inebriated condition.
Ravi’s aunt said he had been involved in a domestic dispute with his wife, who had left for her maternal home, which is also in the neighbourhood, about 4-5 days before the alleged incident.
When Ravi went to bring her back on the day the alleged incident took place, a confrontation ensued between him and Neelam’s family, the aunt claimed, further alleging that Neelam’s brothers broke Ravi’s limbs and threw him into the drain.
Some local residents have also claimed that Ravi could be heard crying out for help, but they were unable to rescue him as the area had been flooded due to heavy rainfall.
Satyadev Sharma, Station House Officer (SHO) at the Mantola Police Station, said that while there have been allegations of assault, the case is currently being treated as a missing person investigation. “Until the body is recovered, we cannot confirm any charges of assault. If, upon recovery, there are signs of foul play, appropriate legal action will be taken under relevant sections of the law,” he added.
Meanwhile, Neelam’s family claimed that Ravi was sent away after a brief confrontation.
Ravi and Neelam have two young children. Ravi’s aunt said that Neelam’s parents disapproved of their marriage. When she came to live with her parents after a fight with Ravi, they refused to let her go back. When Ravi came to take her back with him, they beat him up and threw him in the drain, the aunt said.
However, SHO Sharma said that the couple fought frequently over Ravi’s alcoholism and that the fight on the night of the incident had also taken place because Ravi had returned home from work in an inebriated condition.
The SHO said that the neighbours have claimed that this was not the first time Ravi fell into the drain. He had allegedly jumped into the drain twice before this, threatening to kill himself after an argument with his wife.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)