Imphal: Former Indian women Hockey captain Waikhom Suraj Lata Devi filed a complaint against her husband alleging domestic violence, physical assault and mental torture. In a press conference at Imphal, she said that she was subjected to harassment by her husband right from the time they got married in 2005 and dowry was the main reason.

She explained that under her captaincy she led Indian Women’s Hockey team to win three gold medals in the 2002 Commonwealth Games, an event that inspired making of Bollywood film “Chak De! India”, the 2003 Afro-Asian Games and the 2004 Hockey Asia Cup. She said that her husband Shanta Singh ridiculed me when I brought all the medals and photos that I had won on the day of my marriage and had remarked what use would it serve?

He also accused her of having won the Arjuna Award because of her ‘Immoral behaviour’, she alleged. She maintained that she had been enduring the harassment in the belief that her husband’s behaviour would change. “I never wanted the matter to become public. However, there is always a limit to someone’s patience and tolerance”, she said. The mother of two remarked that she finally took the decision after her husband in an inebriated condition allegedly assaulted her at Kapurthala in Punjab in November 2019 while she was officiating at a tournament, organized by the Rail Coach Factory in Sultanpur Lodhi. Sultanpur Lodhi police registered a case and investigating.