In December 2019, a 40-year-old woman from Srinagar, Kashmir, found herself embarking on what seemed like a new chapter of love, Indian Express reported.
She met a 31-year-old man while on a business trip to New Delhi. The two quickly formed a bond, and by January 2020, they were married in a modest ceremony at an Arya Samaj temple in Delhi.
The woman, already a mother of two daughters, brought her children into this new relationship, hoping for a fresh start.
However, what seemed like a promising new life soon spiraled into a nightmare that would haunt her for years to come.
In June 2021, the woman had to make a brief trip to Srinagar. Her husband, citing responsibilities at home, decided to stay behind with her daughters.
“Upon her return, she noticed that her older daughter appeared anxious, but she did not immediately understand the cause of her distress,” Delhi Police told the newspaper.
It wasn’t until later that the painful truth came to light. Her daughter revealed that her stepfather had attempted to make unwanted advances towards her during the trip to Srinagar.
Terrified, the girl had locked herself in a room to avoid him. When she reached out for help, the woman’s ex-husband intervened.
Devastated by the revelation, the woman confronted her husband, but his family intervened, asking her to forgive him and move forward.
Just as she was making the decision to separate from him, a shocking turn of events occurred. Her older daughter, who had been sent to stay with a relative in Bawana, Delhi, for safety, went missing. On June 26, 2021, the woman filed a police report, but despite extensive efforts, no trace of the girl or her stepfather could be found.
Months passed without any breakthrough. The police expanded their investigation, reviewing phone records, CCTV footage, and other leads, but to no avail.
By the fall of 2022, the case had grown cold, and the man was declared a proclaimed offender. The police, however, did not give up.
In November 2024, a key tip brought the search to Dehradun, where the woman’s missing daughter was believed to be living with the man. When authorities arrived in the city, there was no immediate sign of the two.
But after further probing, it was discovered that the man had been using a false identity. The breakthrough came when a UPI transaction traced back to the man’s mother’s account revealed his location.
As the investigation continued, the police discovered that the man had rented an apartment in Dehradun under an assumed name.
A bus ticket found in his possession later confirmed that he had been responsible for the girl’s abduction.
Finally, the search led the authorities to a rented flat where the woman’s daughter was found—now 20 years old and pregnant with the man’s child.
Although the woman’s daughter had been kidnapped at the age of 16, she now expressed a strong desire to stay with the man, whom she referred to as her husband.
Amid the chaos, the woman also learned that her husband had never legally divorced his first wife before marrying her. This revelation led the Jammu Kashmir Police to open a new investigation into the case, leading to the man’s arrest.
As the police continue to question the man’s family about their involvement, the woman is left devastated, feeling deeply betrayed by a man she once trusted.