
A joint mock drill for flood preparedness in Bahraich turned real as relief personnel rescued a woman who had reportedly jumped into the Ghagra river in an attempt to end her life. Upon her rescue, it was found she had jumped into the river from the Sanjay Set
u after allegedly being harassed by her husband and in-laws. A case was subsequently filed against the accused. 'Out of blue rescue' A joint mock drill was being conducted by the Bahraich Disaster Management Committee and local police teams on the banks of the Ghagra river in Bahraich on Thursday, to prepare for flood and disaster response situations ahead of the incoming monsoon season. Around 12 noon, the personnel spotted something floating in the river. While they initially mistook it for being part of the mock drills, the rescue personnel promptly recognised that it was a woman and divers rushed to her rescue. What followed was a fight against time as rescue personnel managed to take the unconscious woman to the shore before she lost her life. The woman was immediately rushed to the Community Health Centre in Mustafabad, where she was treated. Upon gaining consciousness, she told the cops her ordeal. The woman’s ordeal 35-year-old Hina had jumped off the Sanjay Setu earlier in the day in an attempt to take her life. A resident of Upadhi village in Jarwal Road police station area, Hina alleged her husband Aamir and his family used to harass her, which prompted her to jump into the river to end her life. Hina said she was already married to another man before marrying Aamir, but had eloped with him and married him. However, after marriage, Aamir went to work in Saudi Arabia. She claimed her in-laws refused to accept her and would harass her in Aamir’s absence, and ask her to leave their house. Aamir, too, refused to intervene and instead stopped talking to her, Hina alleged in her complaint. Distressed over the ongoing family dispute and lack of contact with her husband, Hina attempted to end her life, the police said. Bahraich SP Vishwajeet Srivastava told The Indian Express that based on Hina’s complaint, an FIR was registered at Jarwal Road police station against her husband Aamir and his family members under Sections 85 (woman subjected to cruelty by husband, his relatives) and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita. Officials said the presence of trained rescue personnel at the mock drill site enabled an immediate response, helping save the woman’s life. (The writer is an intern at Lucknow office of The Indian Express)