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'Dowry demand, no. Wife-beater, maybe'

Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow

Arrested cricketer Gyanendra Pandey, who was granted bail by Lucknow's district and sessions judge K S Rakhra, has accused his in-laws of framing him in the dowry case and putting him behind bars on Tuesday.

Pandey's family members, who do not acquit him of the charge of assaulting his wife, flatly ruled out the possibility of the cricketer making any dowry demands. "Gyanendra had a comfortable job with the State Bank of India and out of his savings he had recently made two fixed deposits -- one of Rs 60,000 in the name of his wife and another for Rs 40,000 in the name of his daughter," they pointed out. "Then why should he have demanded dowry?"

Another argument put forth by his family members and friends was about the humble financial background of his wife's parents. "Everyone knows the financial status of Pratibha's family, then how can one believe that knowing this background, Gyanendra could have sought dowry from her parents," asked a close relative.

Significantly, the cricketer's family members are not so assertive in denying wife-beating by him, though they were not willing to believe that he was in the habit of spouse abuse. "I do not rule out the possibility of him having assaulted Pratibha since neighbours too have confirmed the incident, but it would be unfair to describe him as a regular wife-beater," said his cousin.

This relative has another version to give about that particular day's incident. "I have been given to believe that Pratibha underwent an abortion without the permission of her husband who was keen on having a male child after two daughters; that was what made him furious and led him to assault her in a fit of rage," he claimed.

"I am not supporting him for this beating but it was unfair to describe him as a habitual drunkard for whom wife-beating was a daily ritual."

He went on to recall how Gyanendra's father-in-law had himself tried to hush up the matter as he thought the whole affair was being blown out of proportion.

Meanwhile, Gyanendra's wife was still in a state of trauma she was believed to have suffered on account of the "ruthless thrashing" by her husband on Monday.

In the cricket circles of Lucknow, Gyanendra enjoyed the reputation of a simple soul, who "had no enemies." One of his close associates lamented that the cricketer, who has the potential to go further up, was going to lose much on account of this controversy.

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