Chattogram music teacher Monica was not abducted, she eloped: Police

Monica Barua Radha, the music teacher who went ‘missing’ seven months ago from Chattogram, had willingly crossed the border to India, police say.

Chattogram Bureaubdnews24.com
Published : 8 Nov 2018, 05:19 PM
Updated : 8 Nov 2018, 05:19 PM

Police ‘rescued’ Monica on Tuesday night from the Bhomra border in Satkhira and brought her to Chattogram on Wednesday.

“Monica went to India willingly when initially we thought she had been abducted or trafficked,” Additional Commissioner Amena Begum at Chattogram Metropolitan Police said at a press briefing on Thursday.

“Later we came to know that she went to India willingly. Even those who formed human chains demanding information on her whereabouts knew she was in India. We could have rescued her long back if we knew that.”

Monica’s sister and other family members repeatedly formed human chain in Chattogram and Dhaka demanding her rescue. They had expressed their displeasure about the rescue efforts by law-enforcing agencies.

“We have been very active since it was a sensitive case,” said Amena.

Monica had eloped with an Indian citizen Kamalesh Kumar Mallick to West Bengal and married him there, police said during the press briefing.

Monica, 45, went out of her residence at Lalkhan Bazar in Chattogram on Apr 12 to provide music tuition, according to her family.

Her husband Debashish Barua filed a general diary with Khulshi Police Station on Apr 13 which was turned into an ‘abduction case’ on Apr 28.

From the beginning, Debashish had declined marital conflicts between them. He had claimed to be unaware of the reason of Monica going ‘missing.’

The mother of two used to teach music at the Little Jewels School in Katalganj in the city. Her daughters study in grade 11 and in grade 8.

Police arrested Kamalesh Mallick in Dhanmondi Road 32 on Nov 4, said Amena.

“Kamlesh confessed, during interrogation, to taking Monica to Benapole by bus and crossed the border without passport and visa.”

Monica took a new name, Anamika Mallick, in Kolkata. She made identity card and other documents by declaring Kamalesh Mallick as her husband. They got married as per religious rituals in a temple which was not registered.

Police ‘tactfully’ brought Monica to Bhomra border when they found she had been staying in a Kolkata apartment, said Deputy Commissioner of Chattogram Metropolitan Police’s detective branch Mizanur Rahman. Later, police brought her to Chattogram.

The police official would not say how Monica was repatriated without any valid documents.