New Delhi: A domestic dispute unfolded in West Bengal at polling booth number 25/238 during the first phase of the Assembly Elections. A man ‘caught’ his runaway wife outside the polling station under the Matigara-Naxalbari assembly segment in Siliguri. A scene straight out of a Bollywood flick played out in front of voters queued up to cast their votes in the West Bengal Assembly elections.
Wife missing for 2 years, man waits for hours outside polling station to catch her
According to a report in the Times of India, the man waited for hours outside the polling booth at Tarabari Primary School. Several other voters noticed him, moving around in the heat. His forehead was sweating but he continued to stand in the sun. He was not talking to anyone and was just waiting.
Suddenly at 2 pm, a woman arrived at the polling booth with her voter ID and EPIC card. The man suddenly lunged at her and caught her from behind. He pulled her by the hair and started abusing and cursing her. This sudden hullabaloo outside the polling station, alerted the security personnel on duty.
The CAPF personnel ran towards the man and tried to pull him away from the woman. They finally managed to free her. It then came to light that the man was actually the woman’s husband. She had left his home 2 years back and had been missing since then. The woman had eloped with another man and chosen to start anew with her partner.
Man knew wife would come to vote, wanted his name deleted from her Voter ID
According to the security personnel, the man calculated that the widespread anxiety caused by the SIR exercise in the state, would compel his wife to appear at her booth on the voting day. He therefore waited for her outside and as soon as he saw her, pounced on her.
When the security personnel intervened, he demanded that his name, as her husband be deleted from her EPIC card. He demanded that until the deletion happened, she should not be allowed to vote. The security personnel however declined to entertain his requests.
The woman was allowed to vote and after that CAPF personnel escorted her outside. Her husband meanwhile, kept abusing and cursing her as well as the security personnel at the booth, before leaving in a huff. The incident left the polling officials and people present at the booth with a smile on their faces.