A woman who was presumed to have been murdered, leading to her husband being jailed over the case, has been found alive 12 years after she disappeared.
Shakuntala Devi was reported missing from her home in Rohtas, Bihar, in 2014. Several days later, the body of an unidentified woman was found in a canal near Khanda village and was identified by Devi’s family as hers.
Her husband, Arun Mehta, along with his father and brother, was subsequently arrested on suspicion of being involved in her alleged murder.
Mehta was also jailed in connection with the case before later being released on bail.
About two months ago, Devi’s family received information that she was actually alive and living in Labhari village in Garhwa district, Jharkhand.
Authorities later located the woman in a village in Garhwa, where she was reportedly living with a man under the name Kanti Devi.
The discovery prompted police to reopen the investigation, including examining the identity of the body found in 2014 and how it had been mistakenly identified as Devi.
Authorities are also investigating whether fraud or a conspiracy may have been involved in the case.
