Uppinangady, June 12: If you think all the eight women, who were tricked to marry Rajesh alias Sukumar, who is in police custody now, would be dying to see stringent punishment being handed to the culprit, you may be wrong. Call it Stockholm syndrome, or the magnanimity of the highest order, Jayanti, one of the eight victims, is more than willing to forgive him and revive marital life with him.
“I will definitely accept him as my husband. I cannot think of marrying anyone again. If he returns, I will try to bring him to the right path. But will he come back?” asks Jayanti, a resident of Ilanthila in Uppinangady, who tied the knot with the conman on September 2, 2004.
For Jayanti, the marital life had hardly been anything but enjoyable. He parents had to foot a marriage bill of Rs. 75,000, besides decorating their daughter in eight sovereign gold ornaments. A plot measuring 35 cents was sold for Rs. 1.5 lakh by her mother to meet the expenses of marriage. “But in four months my ornaments disappeared. My husband also went missing,” says Jayanti, who now ekes out a living by rolling beedies at a hutment.
“Our relationship was good in the first two months .He used to come home regularly. But in the next two months his behavior was bit erratic. Whenever he came to Uppinagnady, he used to tell me that he was tired of working in the hotel and wanted to set up a small shop in Uppingangdy,” reveals Jayanti.
“He had set his eyes on my jewelry. Initially he used to ask in a polite way. But gradually, he became rude. One by one he took away all my ornaments. He would also harass me for money. The last time he left home, he had my finger ring and a necklace with him,” she says.
Luck or lack of it had played a major role in her getting married to Sukumar. “Eight years ago there was a vadhu noduva karyakrama at a relative's place in Agathadi in Mani. My brother had been to the function. But, the talks of marriage had fallen off due to some reason. My brother then spoke to Sukumar about me and invited him to come home and see the girl. Accordingly, he came home and agreed to marry me. But, we were not in a position to meet their demand of Rs. 50,000 and 10 pawn gold. Hence the talks failed. But he came back again and said he would become our mane aliya and accepted the offer,” says Jayanti.
Jayanti had resigned to the idea of living without her husband after just four months of marital life. It was not until Sunday, when the news of his arrest was flashed on newspapers, the young woman had heard anything about her husband. “I realized that I had been cheated only after seeing his pictures in the newspapers,” she says, trying to hold back her tears. “When there was no trace of Sukumar for years, my mother and other relatives kept prodding me to marry someone. They used to tell me that Sukumar might have married some other girl and would have started a new family. But, I didn't lose heart. I always believed that he would come back to me. I have this karimani as proof of our marriage. But, I did not enjoy even a moment of marital life,” rues the young woman.
It may be recalled here that Sukumar alias Rajesh Anchan (32) was arrested by the Udupi police in Madikeri with assistance from activists of Jayakarantaka Sanghatane and has since been remanded to 15-day judicial custody.
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