Husband abandons wife, new-born baby to avoid repaying family's debts

Constable Maya Bhor, Surendra Sharma, Priyanka, Malati, Anita, Ashwin, and Constable Prashant Patil

Over five months after the Sharma family disappeared, leaving their daughter-in-law and her newborn distraught, the police have finally tracked down all six missing. The Palghar police started investigating their disappearance in October 2017, when the daughter-in-law Sangeeta Sharma filed a missing complaint. It turns out that her husband Varun, 40, abandoned her and their baby to avoid repaying his family's debts.

Left in the lurch
"Inquiry revealed that the family was drowning in debt. Varun's paternal uncle Surendra had taken a loan of about R6 lakh from six people in Virar and was not repaying them. The debtors were pressing him to return their money, so he and the rest of the family decided to leave Virar without informing anyone," said an officer.

Varun Sharma. Pic/Hanif Patel

Sangeeta had given birth a few months ago and was at her maternal home in Amravati when the Sharmas disappeared from their Virar home. Neighbours had said the family set out for Shirdi on October 15 to perform the shraadh ceremony of the family head. However, Sangeeta had spoken to her husband just the day before, and he had not mentioned any plan to travel. When she could not contact Varun, or any other family member, Sangeeta reported them missing.

Finding Varun
Palghar SP Manjunath Shinge formed a special squad under additional SP Rajtilak Roshan. The task of finding the family was handed to API Hitendra Vichare and constables Mangesh Chavan, Prashant Patil and Maya Bhor. Varun was found first. On March 15, the police traced his whereabouts to Pune by using technical analysis of his CDR. On March 21, they found the rest - his mother Anita, brother Ashwini, and his uncle Surendra and his wife Malati and daughter Priyanka. The extended family had fled to Ujjain. They had rented a house at Harihar Nagar and eked out a living by selling religious materials and books outside the temples.

All six of them were taken to the local Nilganga police station, and their statements were recorded. "Since they told us they were living there of their own accord, we allowed them to leave after informing the complainant," said another officer. All attempts to contact Sangeeta went unanswered.

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