How far would you go for love? In this case, to save your husband’s life? Sunita Kattam from Chhattisgarh battled many odds to rescue her husband from Maoists. The 39-year-old trekked through forests for four days to find her husband and pleaded with his captors to release him.
According to a report published in TOI, Santosh Kattam, who works as an electrician at Bhopalpatnam police station in Bijapur, was abducted from Gorana village to be presented before the Jan Adalat. Sunita told the newspaper, “He left the house on the evening of May 4 to buy groceries and did not return after that.” Sunita was on leave and got stuck at home due to the lockdown. Sunita said, “My husband was rounded up by a few people dressed as villagers and was picked up quietly from the fairground. Initially, my daughter and I searched for him for two days when he didn’t return home. We didn’t even know he went to the fair (sic).”
Image Credit: TOI
Sunita informed the police and started looking for her husband, but to no avail. A message travelled to her from insiders that Maoists have asked her to appear at Jan Adalat in the forest on May 11 where the decision about her husband’s life was to be taken.
Sunita took her daughter and a few local media persons and villagers along. She rode on motorcycles and walked through rough terrain for four days before finding the Maoists. Sunita recounts, “My heart broke seeing Kattam standing with hands tied and I fell on the knees of cadres to release my husband. He was not associated with any police operation, he’s a mere electrician. Villagers also pleaded with the rebels to release him and built pressure upon them. Maoists were adamant that anyone working for police is their enemy. Hence, they said, Kattam would be released and allowed to live only if he leaves the police’s job (sic).”
Sunita assured them that Santosh would leave his police job. “A woman can go to any lengths to safeguard her husband,” she concludes. Sunita’s bravery somehow reminds us of Roja, a film that revolves around a woman trying to rescue her husband from terrorists who hold him hostage in Kashmir. Sunita is definitely our real-life Roja! Kudos to the braveheart.
Lead Image Credit: TOI
