Five women lay claim over dead man as husband

DE HR AD UN:Uttarakh and police is in a quandary after five women came forward to claim the body of a 40-year-old man who allegedly died during treatment after attempting suicide by consuming poison on Monday morning in Haridwar district.

The deceased was identified as a resident of Rishikul area in Haridwar who was married and worked as a driver, police said.

Praveen Singh Koshiyari, inspector at Haridwar police station, said, “The man attempted suicide on Sunday night by consuming poison. However, his wife rushed him to a nearby hospital after seeing him in an unconscious state. He later succumbed during treatment in the hospital.”

Koshiyari, however, said police came across to an unusual situation when “one after another four woman claiming to be his wife came to hospital to take his body”.

He said, “The man was declared dead at 4am on Monday, one woman after the other kept coming to hospital claiming to be his wife and wanted to take his body,” said Koshiyari.

Unable to come to a solution, police asked all the women to reach a compromise to initiate the last rites.

“We asked them to do so because all of them were very poor to be able to produce marriage certificates. At last, he was cremated under the observation of a police constable,” he said.

In the initial probe, police found that the deceased was facing severe financial crisis due to which he was distressed which ultimately pushed him to take the drastic step.