Odisha train tragedy: Dispute in victim's family over compensation money reaches police station

In Sugo village under Bhadrak’s Basudevpur block, the family of Govinda Sahu, who died in the tragic train accident at Bahanaga, has been embroiled in a dispute over compensation money.

The matter has gone up to the police station after Govinda's wife Bijayalaxmi Sahu alleged that her in-laws have siphoned off all the money she received as compensation following her husband’s death.

As per reports, Bijayalaxmi received a cheque of Rs 5 lakh from the Odisha government and Rs 9.5 lakh from the Indian Railways after the death of her husband. She received another Rs 50,000 from the Railways for the last rites of her husband.

According to Bijayalaxmi's complaint, her in-laws beat her up and took away all the money she received. She has lodged a complaint at Basudevpur Police Station in this connection.

She requested that she should be granted justice. As she has a small child, she asked how she would provide for her child with her in-laws taking away all the money.

Maheshwar Sahu, a relative of Bijayalaxmi, said, "The government had paid the compensation money to my niece and it was deposited in her bank account. However, she was beaten up and threatened by her in-laws to transfer the money from her account to their account. We want all the money to come back to Bijayalaxmi’s account.”

On the other hand, her father-in-law Rabindra Sahu and mother-in-law Annapurna Sahu have denied the allegations. They admitted to having withdrawn money from Bijayalaxmi's account but said the money was withdrawn with her consent. They have denied allegations that Bijayalaxmi was intimidated, beaten up, and forced to put her signature for the withdrawal of money.

“The allegations by my daughter-in-law are completely baseless. I lost my son in the train accident at Bahanaga. I have withdrawn Rs 10 lakh from her account but it was with her consent and to complete the construction and repair of our house,” said Rabindra.