Kavita went missing from her in-laws' home on May 5, 2021, prompting a legal battle between her family and her in-laws, filing cases of murder and kidnapping against each other, police said. (Representative image)

UP woman, assumed 'dead' after going missing for 3 years, found living with boyfriend

A woman in Uttar Pradesh who was presumed dead after she went missing for almost three years from her in-laws' home, was found living with her boyfriend in Lucknow.

by · India Today

In Short

  • Kavita got married in 2017 and went missing in 2021
  • Her family accused in-laws of murder, husband filed kidnapping case
  • UP cops found her living with his boyfriend in Lucknow

The Uttar Pradesh Police have traced a woman who was assumed dead after she went missing from her in-laws' home for nearly three years. The woman was found in Lucknow and living with her boyfriend, police said.

Kavita (23), who belongs to Gonda, married Vinay Kumar, a resident of Dadua Bazaar, on November 17, 2017. But, she went missing from her in-laws' home on May 5, 2021, prompting a legal battle between her family and her in-laws, filing cases of murder and kidnapping against each other.

"Kavita's family accused her in-laws of murder, leading to the registration of a case against her husband, brother-in-law, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law," Gonda's Superintendent of Police (SP) Vineet Jaiswal said.

Despite extensive searches, Kavita's whereabouts remained unknown. In December 2022, Vinay Kumar, the husband, also filed a case against six people, including Kavita's brother Akhilesh, alleging that they had kidnapped her.

According to SP Jaiswal, both investigations were ongoing, but no progress was made in locating Kavita. The matter had reached the High Court, which sought details of the police's actions.

Following this, police located Kavita at the home of her boyfriend, Satya Narayan Gupta, in Lucknow.

"Satya Narayan owned a shop in Durjanpur market, Gonda, and Kavita frequently visited him. Their relationship grew closer, leading her to elope with him," the SP said.

During questioning, Kavita said she had lived with her boyfriend in Ayodhya for a year before moving to Lucknow.

Kavita is currently undergoing a medical examination and will be presented in court.

(with inputs from PTI)