Evicted from home by wife, man holds fast unto death in Bengal

Alleging that he was thrown out from home by his wife after he bequeathed all his property to her, a middle-aged man held a fast unto death protest in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district, sources said on Monday.

Prabir Saha, a resident of Jalpaiguri district's Dabgram, on Sunday took the path of non-violent protest with a picture of Mahatma Gandhi, accusing his wife of not letting him in their house after he recently bequeathed the two storiy-building to her.

"I have bequeathed the house to my wife. But now she is not allowing me in, she is driving me away. We are married for the last 28 years but now she can't stand the sight of me. That is why I have decided to hold A fast unto death. Now I will be here like this, does not matter even if I die," a visibly heartbroken Saha said.

According to the locals, the wife Baby drove him out from the house a few months back accusing him of domestic violence. He decided to hold the protest as several requests by him, as well as by the local authority and police to allow him back into the house, have failed to move Baby.

"The woman is acting unlawfully. She does not listen to anybody. She does not even meet anybody to discuss the issue even after hours of waiting. Nor does SHE respond to phone calls. This is a strange situation because we cannot interfere in family matters or force anyone to stay together," said Krishna Paul, the local councillor.

Things took an unexpected turn between the couple after Saha, a businessman, gave all his property to her wife, the locals claimed.

"We have heard that he has given everything to her. Now the woman has driven him away from the house as she does not like him anymore. This is unfortunate after he wrote a will giving all his property to her. She should be driven out of the locality," a local woman said.

Police said they have requested Saha to withdraw his protest and assured him that they would look into the issue.

--IANS

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