Malti Devi, widow of Ganesh Kumar, and (above) Prani Devi with the picture of her son Sunny Kumar at chief minister Nitish Kumar’s janata durbar in Patna on Monday. Pictures by Deepak Kumar

The widow of a martyr came to chief minister Nitish Kumar’s janata durbar on Monday, accusing her in-laws of duping her of the compensation received from the Union government after the death of her husband.

Malti Devi, 35, lost her husband Sipahi Ganesh Kumar on December 28, 2001. He was a member of Operation Parakram following the attacks on Parliament. Ganesh died while removing landmines on the border in Bikaner district of Rajasthan.

After his death, the Union government gave Rs 16 lakh to Malti as compensation. However, her in-laws allegedly took most of the money.

“They had promised that my brother-in-law Mahesh Kumar would marry me after I got the compensation. But now they refuse to accept that they made any such promise,” she told The Telegraph.

“Of the compensation provided by the Union government, my father in law, Shivdas Ram, took Rs 12 lakh promising that the money would be spent for the education of my son Anshu Kumar, who was six months old at that time,” said Malti.

With the money, they purchased a plot of land at Rukkanpura and constructed a house there. “But the house is not in my name,” said Malti.

She also accused her brother-in-law Mahesh of sexually exploiting her several times.

On May 10, 2012, Malti lodged an FIR against her father-in-law Shivdas and Mahesh at Rupaspur police station accusing them of cheating and sexually exploiting her.

Based on the complaint, an arrest warrant was issued against the two. But as the police did not arrest them, Malti approached Patna High Court in February this year.

Considering the sensitivity of the case, Justice Anjana Prakash directed the police to arrest the duo but the two are still on the loose.

Malti’s younger brother, Umesh Kumar, who is with the Assam Rifles in Mizoram, accompanied her to the janata durbar on Monday.

He said: “Shivdas has recently retired from a government job and runs a small business in Patna. Mahesh is employed with a private firm in Mumbai. Despite knowing their whereabouts, the police have failed to act. After she got the compensation, her in-laws began torturing her. She is all alone and in no position to fight against her in-laws despite the arrest warrants against them.”

After hearing her complaint, the chief minister asked Patna senior superintendent of police Manu Maharaj to look into the case.

“A team would to constituted soon to arrest the duo,” said Maharaj.