The victim's husband claims that she is mentally unstable.
A woman, allegedly locked in a toilet for over a year by her husband in Haryana, was rescued on Wednesday by a team from the state department for women's protection.
The woman was found in a filthy state and had not eaten for days, according to officials. Her husband claims she is mentally unstable.
The rescue was led by Women Protection and Child Marriage Prohibition Officer Rajni Gupta, who said she had acted after receiving information about the woman confined by her husband at village Rishpur in Panipat. A police complaint has been filed.
"I received information that a woman was locked in the toilet for over a year. I come here with my team. When we reached here, we found that it was true. It seems that woman has not eaten anything for many days," Rajni Gupta said, according to news agency ANI.
She denied that the woman was mentally not fit.
"It is being said that she is mentally unstable, but it is not true. We have talked to her and it was apparent that she is not mentally unstable. We cannot confirm whether she is mentally unstable or not, but she was locked in the toilet. We rescued her and washed her hair. We have filed a police complaint. Police will take action accordingly," she added.
The woman's husband said: "She was mentally unstable. We ask her to sit outside but she does not sit there. We have taken her to doctors but there was no improvement in her condition."
The police said they would investigate the case and take action. "Rajni Gupta went to the village and rescued the woman who was locked by her husband Naresh for over a year. We have registered a complaint and we will take action after investigation. We will take the advice of doctors and proceed further," a police officer said.