BJD MP Anubhav Mohanty accused of torturing his wife, files divorce petition alleging cruelty

Actor-turned-MP and Biju Janata Dal deputy chief whip in Lok Sabha Anubhav Mohanty has landed in soup after his wife Varsha Priyadarshini, a former actor in Odia films, accused him of physical and mental torture.

In her petition filed before the court of Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate of Cuttack, under section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, Priyadarshini alleged that her MP husband used to hit her after getting drunk. Accusing the MP of being a drunkard and her family members of humiliating her, she levelled allegations of being treated like “an insect”.

Mohanty and Priyadarshini, both leading actors of Odia film industry got married in 2014. The duo had acted in several Odia movies together. Mohanty is considered close to chief minister Naveen Patnaik as he defeated the CM’s bete noire Baijayant Panda from Kendrapara in 2019 Lok Sabha election.

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“He is a drunkard and womaniser. Even he was forgetting his normal life at the time of his drinks and used vulgar language. After the last general election of 2019, the torture by Mohanty and his family members increased day by day which was beyond tolerance,” she alleged.

Priyadarshini further alleged that for two months during the lockdown period, she was left alone at her in-law’s house in Cuttack and the MP did not take her to Delhi despite her pleading. “After coming back from Delhi, my husband became violent and shouted at me. On June 7, my husband and his father rebuked me in filthy language for nearly two hours. On June 11, my husband asked me to agree for mutual divorce and threatened me with dire consequences if I did not agree,” Priyadarshini alleged in her petition.

In the petition, she has demanded ₹15 crore compensation from Mohanty for the loss of her income as an actor as well as medical expenses and monthly alimony of ₹70,000 towards house rent and maintenance.

Reacting to the allegations, Mohanty said he never intended to make his personal life public. “My marriage has been in bad shape since long. I have tried my level best to reason, to explain, to understand, and to make amends. Unfortunately, things did not shape up as expected. the marriage is irretrievably broken,” he said adding that he filed a divorce petition at Patiala House Court in Delhi in July this year on grounds of cruelty, harassment, tyranny refusal of his wife to consummate the marriage.

In his petition, Mohanty accused his wife of humiliating and disregarding him and his family on multiple occasions. “She hardly stayed at her matrimonial house and used to create fake situations to instigate a fight. Though we were married from 2014, we have stayed together only for a period of 18 months. Our marriage was never consummated as my wife refused to have a physical relationship,” he alleged, adding that his wife had been falsely accusing him of infidelity and even threatened to file false criminal cases against him and his family.