Guwahati: Former Indian women's hockey team captain Suraj Lata Devi has registered a police complaint against her husband, accusing him of physical assault and mental torture over dowry issues, the police said.
"My husband Shanta Singh ridiculed me when I brought all the medals and photos that I had won on the day of my marriage and had remarked 'what use would it serve'," she said at a press conference here, adding that she was subjected to harassment by her husband from the time they got married in 2005 with dowry being the primary reason.
He also accused her of having won the Arjuna Award because of her "immoral behaviour", she alleged.
The hockey player maintained that she had been enduring the harassment in the belief that her husband's behaviour would change.
"I never wanted the matter to become public. However, there is always a limit to someone's patience and tolerance," she said.
The mother of two remarked that she finally took the decision after her husband in an inebriated condition allegedly assaulted her at Kapurthala in Punjab in November 2019 while she was officiating at a tournament, organised by the Rail Coach Factory in Sultanpur Lodhi.
Suraj Lata's husband has been booked under various sections of the IPC, including Section 498-A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty).
Suraj Lata had filed the complaint with the Manipur Police in January, which was then forwarded to Sultanpur Lodhi police station in Punjab as the incident of violence had occurred there.
Under Suraj Lata, Indian women's hockey team had won three international tournaments -- 2002 Commonwealth Games, an event that inspired making of Bollywood film 'Chak De India', 2003 Afro-Asian Games and Asia Cup in 2004.
