Bengal woman allegedly killed by husband for protesting IPL betting

A 32-year-old woman was killed by her husband and four members of his family after she protested against placing bets on IPL matches in West Bengal’s Malda town, her father has alleged.

Arpita Dasgupta was rushed to Malda Medical College and Hospital (MMCH) in an unconscious state by her neighbours on Wednesday night, police said. The doctors pronounced her “brought dead” in the hospital in Malda, about 327km to the north of state capital Kolkata.

“We have received a complaint against some persons, but all the accused are on the run after the incident. Raids are on to nab them,” said Shantanu Mitra, the inspector-in-charge of Englishbazar police station.

Suvendu Dasgupta and Arpita married six years ago.

Arpita’s father Santosh Dutta lodged a complaint at the police station alleging his son-in-law and some other members of his family murdered his daughter. Dutta claimed Suvendu and Arpita, who opposed the gambling, had a fight on Wednesday night.

“At that time Suvendu and some other members of his family forced my daughter to drink acid that killed her,” alleged Dutta.

Dutta said his granddaughter called him late on Wednesday night, saying her mother was lying unconscious on the floor of the house. “I rushed to their house but by then my daughter had been shifted to MMCH. When I reached the hospital, I found her body on a trolley,” said Dutta.

“My son in law, Suvendu, is a gambler and also a narcotics addict. This year he invested more than Rs 2 lakh on IPL matches. I have heard that he borrowed the money at high interest for betting. But he also failed to repay the loans,” alleged Dutta.

Police said Suvendu Dasgupta did not stay at his house during the day since he was hounded by creditors and used to come back late in the night.

First Published: May 09, 2019 16:40 IST