Mentally unwell Chhattisgarh woman with feet shackled swept away for 20 km, rescued in Odisha

Raigarh: A 35-year-old mentally unwell woman from Chhattisgarh, whose feet were shackled, was swept away for 20 kilometres in the swollen Mahanadi river and was rescued by fishermen in neighbouring Odisha, an official has said.

After her miraculous escape, Sarojani Chauhan was brought back to her home in the Saria area of Sarangarh-Bilaigarh district and was subsequently hospitalised in neighbouring Raigarh district, he said on Thursday.

“Chauhan was separated from her husband and was living with her parents in Porath village in Saria. She was undergoing treatment for mental health issues and her kin had shackled her feet as she used to leave home frequently without informing anybody,” Sarangarh-Bilaigarh Superintendent of Police Pushkar Sharma said.

As per preliminary information, on Wednesday night, she went to the vegetable farm in her house, located on the banks of the Mahanadi river, to attend nature's call but didn't return, the official said.

"The river is in spate due to continuous rainfall. This (Thursday) morning, she was rescued from the river by some fishermen in Parsada village under Rengali police station area in Odisha, some 20 kilometres from her native village," he said.

A police team from Sarangarh got her back from Parsada to Saria and she is now in hospital, the SP said.

Her family did not file a missing person complaint and nothing seems suspicious in the case as yet though a probe is underway, Sharma said.