Russian woman rescued in Assam, doctor arrested for 'luring' her to marriage

Dibrugarh: A Russian woman has been rescued from a hospital in Assam’s Dibrugarh where she was allegedly forcibly admitted by an Indian doctor who had promised to marry her when he was studying medicine in Russia. Following an FIR filed by an NGO under Dibrugarh police station, the doctor was arrested today under IPC sections 370A(2) for human trafficking, 420 for cheating, 323 for voluntarily causing hurt, 344 for wrongful confinement, 34 for acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention and 120(B) for criminal conspiracy. [caption id=“attachment_2112449” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] Dibrugarh Superintendent of Police Rana Bhuyan said “we have arrested the doctor and further investigations are on. We will proceed as per the law and the guilty will be punished.” North Eastern Buddhist Cultural Association (NEBCA), the NGO which rescued the woman, has written to the Russian Ambassador in Delhi about the 25-year old Russian citizen’s plight and sought “necessary action and to initiate arrangements for her shelter.” A copy of the letter written by NEBCA secretary general Rajiv Hazarika made available to PTI, says on February 18 the NGO received information about the woman being forcibly admitted to a local private mental hospital and locked up with other patients. The hospital authorities told the NGO that the woman was admitted on being referred over telephone by a local doctor, the letter said. Realising that her condition was normal, Hazarika demanded that the hospital provide medical attention to the woman in the general patients’ section. As her knowledge of English was limited, an interpretor was arranged and in her recorded statement, the woman claimed she was living with one Dr Samir Rahman who had gone to Russia to study medicine. The woman, who was a nurse, said Dr Rahman promised to marry her and had sent her alone to India on January 4, while he arrived on January 21. Quoting the woman’s statement, the NEBCA letter said misunderstanding cropped between her and the family of Dr Rahman who “stopped helping her.” “Dr Samir and his family (mother and sister) conspired to deport her back to Russia without her consent. They had taken her to the local airport of Dibrugarh and dumped her there with a return ticket and Rs 500,” the letter said. The airport police informed her local contact to take her to Dr Rahman’s residence, the letter said adding, the doctor and his family forcibly admitted her to a local hospital “on the pretext of urinary disorders and kept her there till February 18.” On being discharged, they did not take her back and “readmitted her in a mental hospital from where we have rescued her,” Hazarika informed the Russian Embassy. The Russian woman has now been kept in Swadhar Home, a Government of India project for women in difficult circumstances, Hazarika said adding the Russian Embassy has contacted the woman. PTI