The police were finally able to locate Urmila Zhala, wife of the deceased Haresh Solanki, who was mercilessly lynched by her upper caste family on 8 July, last week.
On Sunday, 14 July, the Ahmedabad Rural Police located Urmila and her mother at their relative’s home in Ahmedabad. Urmila told the police that she doesn’t want to leave her mother and would stay with her, instead of her in-laws’place.
In a bizarre turn of events, Urmila also told the cops that she is not pregnant with Haresh’s child. Earlier last week, the counsellor from 181 Abhayam Helpline – Bhavika Bhagora – who had accompanied Haresh to Urmila’s home in the Varmor village of Ahmedabad had told the police in a written statement that Urmila was pregnant.
PD Manvar, DySP (SC/ST Cell) said that the department will offer police protection to Urmila if she wants to live away from her family. But Urmila insisted on living with her mother. He further added that medical test to determine whether Urmila is pregnant or not can also be conducted provided she agrees to it.
So far seven out of the eight accused (all from Urmila’s family) in the case have been arrested, barring Urmila’s mother. Urmila’s father Dashrathsinh Zhala was arrested on Saturday, 13 July. Dashrathsinh Zhala told the police that Urmila returned home on her own and she was never forced by the family.
He further added that when Haresh came to their home in Varmor village with the Abhyam counsellors and the police, tempers flared which led to a violent retaliation. Meanwhile, Urmila, in April this year, had approached Gandhidham police in Kutch, requesting police protection for herself, her husband and in-laws.
In a letter written to the Gandhidham police she stated that her in-laws are being threatened with death and if anything happens to them, the responsibility for the same falls on Urmila’s family.
Haresh and Urmila had married around 7-8 months ago against her family’s wishes and eloped two months later. The couple was living in Gandhidham Kutch for the last few months when, Urmila’s father, Dashrathsinh Zhala visited them. He lied to Urmila about her mother’s failing health and coaxed her to return home with him.
However, for two months they did not let Urmila leave their home in the Varmor village of Ahmedabad. A desperate Haresh accompanied by cops and a counsellor from Abhayam Women’s Helpline went to Urmila’s home to convince her family. But Urmila’s family attacked Haresh and killed him on the spot in the presence of the police and counsellors
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