A man was mercilessly beaten up by his wife and mother-in-law in front of Govindpur Tehsil Office in Odisha’s Gajapati district last week after he refused to convert to Christianity, reported Kalinga TV.
According to reports, the victim is identified as Thabir Panda. Panda works as a Revenue Inspector (RI) at the Govindapur Tehsil office in the district. Thabir Panda is a Hindu, while his wife Surabhi is reportedly Christian. Both had lawfully married each other in Bhawanipatna court in 2014. Thabir’s refusal to renounce Hinduism post his marriage had resulted in differences between the couple.
Reportedly, Panda was attacked by Surabhi and her mother in front of his office in Govindpur on Thursday evening. They beat him up while repeatedly abusing in foul language.
Speaking to media persons, Thabir said, “I and Surbhi loved each other. Since we belonged to different religions we decided to get married in Bhawanipatna court on 30 March 2014. She and her family started torturing me after I refused to convert to Christianity post marriage. Her family also wanted to have a Christian marriage”.
Thabir said that they hardly stayed together as whenever they were together, the dispute over his conversion turned worse. Thabir had refused to convert into Christianity as he was the only son of his parents. After Thursday’s incident, Thabir lodged a complaint at the local police station against his wife Surbhi and his mother-in-law.
However, Surabhi and her mother have refused to give any statements to the media and claimed that this their personal matter.