Sasaram, Sept 13: A woman who was believed to have been murdered in Bihar’s Rohtas district in 2014 has been found alive in neighbouring Jharkhand, where she was allegedly living with her lover, police said.
The woman, identified as Saraswati Devi alias Kanti Devi, was produced before a court in Sasaram on Saturday in connection with a case registered against her for allegedly misleading the police, Rohtas Superintendent of Police Raj said.
According to police, Saraswati had disappeared in 2014 after allegedly leaving her marital home with Rattu Singh, a fellow villager. At the time, a body of an unidentified woman was recovered from a canal near Khanda village under the Dehri Mufassil police station area.
Her brother and the village chowkidar identified the body as that of Saraswati Devi. Following a post-mortem examination, the body was cremated.
A murder case was subsequently registered against eight people, including Saraswati’s husband Arun Mehta and father-in-law Dilip Mehta. The accused were arrested and sent to jail in connection with the case.
Dilip Mehta later told police that his son had married Saraswati, a resident of Aurangabad district, in 2002 and that the couple had a son. He said Saraswati left the family home in 2014 without informing them.
The family subsequently reached a settlement with Saraswati’s relatives involving a payment of Rs 3 lakh, following which the accused were released, Mehta said.
The case took an unexpected turn in 2026 when the family received information that Saraswati had changed her name and was living with Rattu Singh in Labhari Kala village of Jharkhand’s Garhwa district.
After being informed by Mehta, SP Raj sent a police team to Jharkhand, which located the woman and brought her back to Bihar.
Police are now investigating the identity of the woman whose body was recovered from the canal in 2014 and are examining how the mistaken identification occurred.
