`Murdered' woman returns home; four accused still in jail
Mandsaur, Mar 21 (PTI): A woman believed to have been murdered sometime in September 2023 returned safe to her home in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district a few days ago, even as four men arrested for the supposed killing continue to be in prison.
The story of Lalita Bai (35), resident of Navali village, is stranger than fiction, or a film script.
A case was registered for her `murder' at Thandla town in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh in September 2023, days after her family reported that she had gone missing from Gandhi Sagar area of Mandsaur.
Her relatives even identified the body of a woman with her head crushed as Lalita Bai, said Gandhi Sagar police station in-charge Taruna Bharadwaj.
So imagine their surprise when Lalita Bai returned home on March 11, safe and sound.
According to her, she left home on her own with one Shahrukh and travelled to Bhanpura.
There, without her knowledge, he `sold' her to another person, also named Shahrukh, for Rs 5 lakh, Lalita Bai told police.
The second man took her to Kota in Rajasthan, where she stayed with him for nearly 18 months.
"However, as soon as I got the opportunity, I ran away and came back," Lalita told PTI Videos.
"I do not have a mobile phone, so I was unable to contact my family members," she said.
"After we had filed a missing person report, Thandla police informed us about the recovery of a woman's body with her head crushed. We went there and identified it as the body of our daughter on the basis of a tattoo and a black string tied around her leg. We performed the last rites too," Lalita's father Nanuram Banchhada said.
Police, meanwhile, arrested four men including Shahrukh who had allegedly lured her away.
After her return, her father took her to the Gandhi Sagar police station, and informed the officials that she was very much alive.
Gandhi Sagar police then informed their counterparts in Thandla about the development.
As to the fate of the four men who are in prison, it is for the Thandla police to take necessary action, said Mandsaur Superintendent of Police Abhishek Anand.
Jhabua SP Padmavilochan Shukla told PTI that the local court has sought information about the matter.
"We will first conduct a medical examination and DNA test of the woman, and also record afresh the statements of witnesses," he said.
Only after a thorough investigation the police would be able to state conclusively that the woman who turned up at Gandhi Sagar police station earlier this month is the same woman who was thought to have been murdered, Shukla said.
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Trump’s fresh threat to bomb Iran amid reports of deal to end war
Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened Iran with more bombing if it doesn't reopen the Strait of Hormuz, amid a report that the warring sides were nearing an agreement to end the war.
US media outlet Axios reported, quoting US officials and two other sources, that the US and Iran were getting close to a one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war and set a framework for more detailed nuclear negotiations.
The US expects Iranian responses on several key points over the next 48 hours, Axios reported, adding that nothing has been agreed yet. This was the closest the parties had been to an agreement since the war began.
"Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end, and the highly effective Blockade will allow the Hormuz Strait to be OPEN TO ALL, including Iran," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
"If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before," Trump said.
According to Axios, the deal would involve Iran committing to a moratorium on nuclear enrichment, the US agreeing to lift its sanctions and release billions in frozen Iranian funds, and both sides lifting restrictions around transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
It said many of the terms laid out in the memo would be contingent on a final agreement being reached, leaving the possibility of renewed war or an extended limbo in which the hot war has stopped, but nothing is truly resolved.
