Odisha lecturer held for parading wife over alleged affair

The Odisha Police arrested two persons, including a 43-year-old college lecturer, on charges of parading his 37-year-old estranged wife along with her male associate on a road, suspecting them of having an extramarital relationship.

The incident took place at Nimapada town in Puri district on Tuesday night when the accused lecturer, along with his friend, barged into the residence of his wife, who was living separately for the past few years, and allegedly assaulted her, a senior officer said.

The lecturer claimed that his wife was in a relationship with another man, for which he assaulted her.

However, both the wife and her male companion rejected the allegation, the police said.

“We have arrested the lecturer and his associate on charges of outraging the modesty of a woman, physically assaulting her, publicly humiliating them by making them parade on the streets,” Bamadev Swain, the inspector-in-charge of Nimapada police station, told PTI over the phone.

In a purported video clip that went viral on social media, the college lecturer and his friend were seen assaulting the woman and her companion and parading them.

However, PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.

The woman, who has a 14-year-old son, was staying separately in a rented accommodation at Nimapada town, the police said.