Talcher BJD MlA Braja Kishore Pradhan landed in another controversy on Monday as a woman claiming as his wife alleged that she has been subjected to physical torture by him.
The woman lodged a written complaint at the Mahila police station in Bhubaneswar alleging that the MlA is refusing to give her social status as his wife even though she had married him at a temple.
She said she has ample evidence to substantiate her claim and allegation.
"I have lodged a complaint against my husband as he has estranged me after torturing me physically and mentally for long. He has even threatened me for life," the woman told reporters. She said they had tied the knot at the Mahalakshmi Temple of the Shreemandir in Puri on April 5, 2015.
"We garlanded each other and he put vermillion on my forehead," she claimed.
The woman demanded that Pradhan publicly accept the marriage and give her legitimate social status.
She said they had their first marital night at his MlA Colony quarter here. Then she left for Banki to report to her job there. After the July 2016 Whatsapp controversy, he started distancing from her.
When contacted, Pradhan said he knows the woman well and has personally helped her many times. But her allegations are fully baseless.
Meanwhile, people under the leadership of Talcher Mahila Congress
burnt a replica of the MlA at Hatotota in Talcher and demanded his immediate arrest.
Notably, earlier, the MlA had also landed in a controversy for allegedly having obscene conversation on Whatsapp with a college girl and asking her for sexual relation in exchange of employment to her unemployed father. But it was found out to be the handiwork of a local teenage boy who was later arrested and remanded to a juvenile correction home.