Rita Ballav, the wife of Dev Ballav, the gunman who took 71 students of a high school hostage on Wednesday with firearms and ammunition, appeared before the media and turned down her husband’s allegation that “she and her son were kidnapped.”

Dev, while speaking to newspersons with a loaded firearm in his hand on the day of the incident, said some people had abducted his wife and a minor son.

“I knocked on the doors of the administration and police time and again. But as no one paid any heed to my complaint, I decided to take arms and avenge their abduction,” he had claimed.

But his spouse Rita refuted the claim candidly.

Rita Ballav. The Telegraph

“Since our marriage, I have felt that he has some psychological issues. He has always been adamant, insolent, and obstinate. He did whatever he thought was correct and never considered others’ opinions. That is why I left him voluntarily with our 12-year-old son about a year ago and has been living at my parents’ place since then. No one has kidnapped us,” Rita, who is in her mid-thirties, said.

“I have sympathy for him but it was not possible to live with him. So I left,” she added.

Rita, who is a panchayat member, said she was with BJP but later joined Trinamul while denying that her separation from Dev had any political reason behind as was claimed by some BJP leaders on Wednesday.

After Dev was nabbed, some representatives of the saffron camp said that he got mentally disturbed as Trinamul exerted pressure on his wife.

“Even after I joined Trinamul, we were staying together. But gradually, he started behaving weirdly. I suspect someone was influencing him against me for some reason,” she said.

Rita said the police should find out where Dev had managed to get the firearms and ammunition.

“This is not the first time he managed to get deadly weapons. Police should find out the source. Earlier, he had gathered similar items and had made posts in social media,” she said.

Rita, who plans to meet Dev, who is in police custody now, said she wants him to get treated.

“His family didn’t take care of him. He needs proper psychiatric treatment. Once things improve, I want to arrange for it,” said Rita.