Man held wife captive in toilet for years in Haryana

A man in Panipat of Haryana held his wife captive in a small toilet on the terrace of his house for over a year. The victim, who was rescued by a woman protection officer, was in bad situation, and asked for food as the door of the toilet was opened.

Panipat: A woman, who was forcibly confined to a small toilet on the terrace of a house for one and a half years, has been freed by the state administration officials here.

It was learnt that the husband of the victim would beat and harass her, and allow her to come out of the toilet only after every 15 to 20 days for a while.

She was given minimal food to survive.

Rajini Gupta, a woman protection officer, who got the victim freed after learning about her situation, said that she had received information that a woman had been confined to a toilet for a year and that she was in a very bad situation.

"We came to the house and found true whatever was told to us," the officer said, adding that the woman asked for food immediately after seeing her.

The husband of the woman, who was also present at the time of the operation, said she was not well and would eat anything and defecate anywhere in the house.

"She was not keeping well. I got her medically treated by various doctors but her condition remained the same," he said, justifying his decision to confine her to the toilet for one and a half years.

Neighbours of the family said that the man was lying as he was not treating her well and would harass and beat her up every now and then.

Ironically, the victim has three children of 15, 13 and 11 years of age but they could also not help their mother.

Meanwhile, police have registered a case against the victim's husband and further probe is on.