Patna, Feb. 9: Neeru Devi is desperate to get out of her two-room rented house in the Murlichak area of Khajpura under the Airport police station. She might be frail but is resolute to beat the confine-ment that she has been forced into for her husband’s fault.

Neeru’s husband, Manoj Singh, who ekes out a living by painting houses, allegedly ran away with their neighbour, Deep Shikha, 21, on December 31, 2011. Following the incident, Deep Shikha’s family allegedly beat up Neeru and are not allowing her to leave the house.

“I have my family to go to, but I am not being allowed to leave the house. It is a sort of forceful confinement. My husband is to be blamed for my misery,” Neeru told Patna senior woman told Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Alok Kumar today at his janata darbar.

“We are married for eight years and have a three-year-old daughter. She is staying with me. I never had any whiff of his affair with a girl in the same neighbourhood. On December 30, I had gone to my home in Bihta. Despite repeated requests, my husband did not accompany me on the pretext of some work,” she said.

“A day after, he and the girl fled away. I came to know about the incident from the cops after the girl’s family lodged an FIR with the Airport police station on January 1 this year. I immediately came back home,” she added.

Neeru also told the SSP that she was living in the rented house with her husband for a long time.

“He has been staying in the house even before our wedding. Since the day he fled away, I have not received a phone call from him. I could not contact him because his mobile phone remains switched off. I have gone to the local police station several times and told them everything. But nothing has happened so far,” she added.

Neeru also accused Deep Shikha’s kin of torturing her. “They are not allowing me to leave the house and are threatening my landlord, who is an old person. He keeps reminding me about the monthly rent, which was fixed at Rs 1,800. But with my husband not around, I cannot pay the rent,” she told the officer.

“Under such circumstances, I cannot stay here. But the girl’s family is not allowing me to do that. They accused me of encouraging my husband to flee with her,” Neeru said.

“On February 4, Deep Shikha’s grandfather Ramjeet Singh, uncles Gyan Prakash and Jeetendra Prakash and father Dilip Singh, who live in the Sheikhpura Mazaar area under Shastri Nagar police station, forcefully entered my home and beat me up. They also threatened to kill me if I don’t ask my husband to bring Deep Shikha back. After this incident, I lodged an FIR with the Airport police station,” she added.

The SSP said the police would probe into Neetu’s allegations. “The woman claimed that she is in trouble and that is ready to share all information regarding her husband. We have asked the station house officer of the local police station to look into the issue. Besides, immediate action will be taken against the accused if she is being tortured,” Kumar added.