Air force officer assaulted, extorted cancer-stricken wife

A sergeant on the rolls of the Indian Air Force allegedly harassed and physically assaulted his cancer-stricken wife for years, driving her to finally seek police action.

The accused Kallol Sarkar

The accused has been identified as Kallol Sarkar (36). He has been arrested by the Khandeshwar police in Navi Mumbai on September 30 and remanded in their custody. Kallol has even been accused of posing as a pilot to cheat other women.

His ailing wife Shruti (name changed) is now staying with her parents.

Speaking to MiD DAY, Shruti said, "When I was fighting cancer, he abused me physically and mentally. He demanded money from me. My parents used to transfer money for him to splurge."

Shruti met Kallol through a common friend in 2002. The next year, Kallol took her to his hometown in a remote part of West Bengal, where he persuaded her to marry him. Shruti said, "Later, he was posted at Thiruvananthapuram, whereas I got a job as an engineer in Pune. But he asked me to shift to Thiruvananthapuram with him. It was there that the torture and harassment started. He would regularly demand money."

Kallol soon shifted base to the North-east of the country, and then to Delhi. In 2006, he demanded money from Shruti to pay for an MBA degree. One day, he hit her so hard that her jawbones were fractured. In another assault he fractured her hand.

Shruti said, "It was then that I decided to leave his house and return to my parents in Navi Mumbai. I was undergoing treatment for blood cancer at a hospital in Mahim, and I am still on medication."

She added, "I tried to get a divorce but he only demanded more money."

Last month, Kallol came to Navi Mumbai started demanding money and threatened Shruti, after which she registered a case with the Khandeshwar police. She said, "I complained several times to the Indian Air Force, but no action was taken against him. An internal inquiry has been initiated in that case."

Policespeak
An investigating officer from Khandeshwar police station said, requesting anonymity, "Kallol has been charged under sections 498A, 326, 324, 323, 420, 506 and 509 of the IPC. He was arrested and remanded in custody. His mother and sister too have been named as accused and investigations are on."

Shruti said, "I am alone and exhausted. Even in my last days, I want him to be punished severely. He has even cheated respectable and accomplished women in Delhi, including a well-known classical singer, a professor in Delhi University, and an assistant commandant." u00a0