Imphal, Aug. 30: Tortured and abused, a young Manipuri housewife who fled her doctor husband’s house in Meghalaya in July has filed a police case from here against her husband and mother-in-law at Tura police station.

She has also lodged a complaint with the Meghalaya State Women’s Commission.

Urmila Chanam R. Marak filed the police case on August 10 against her husband, Dr John Rikrak R. Marak, an officer in the department of orthopaedics, Civil Hospital, Tura, and his mother Sophie R. Marak, a member of the State Women’s Commission located at Upper Chandmari, Meghalaya.

Another complaint was despatched to Hasina Kharbhih, chairperson of the State Women’s Commission.

The Tura police have registered FIR number 91(807) U/S 498(A) 341 of the IPC and Section 4 of the Dowry Act.

In her complaint, Urmila stated that she and John had a registered marriage at a court in Guwahati in March 2000.

The marriage was formalised by her parents with a ceremony in June 2000. They had a Christian marriage in Tura in November that year.

The couple had agreed to live in Imphal after their marriage, but John later decided to stay on in Tura as the job prospects were better. .

Urmila today said from the beginning of the love marriage, John ensured that she was entirely dependent on him for money. He began physically abusing her in 2001.

The traumatised woman finally got a temporary job at West Garo Hills Community Resource Management Society last year and simultaneously established a franchise of a courier service at Ringrey in Tura with the help of her brother and parents this year.

“From that point, my husband felt that he was loosing his grip on me and started mental harassment and physical violence. He put pressure on me to give up my job on the ground that I was neglecting our three-year-old daughter,” she said. Urmila also accused her husband of demanding Rs 10 lakh as dowry.

She said to escape his wrath, she let him handle the courier service. But it started showing severe lapses on billing and ran into losses. When she pointed this out, John assaulted her and threatened to “cut her into pieces with a dao (machete)”.

She alleged that her mother-in-law exercised a major control over their marriage, despite living away. At one point of time, she warned Urmila not to stay in her son’s house, and even said that John wanted to divorce her.

Urmila finally left Meghalaya on July 15 with her daughter for her parent’s house in Imphal West.