Odisha: Mother-of-two claims to be wife of jatra veteran Daitari Panda

Balasore: A woman, mother of two children, claiming to be the wife of popular Odia jatra artist Daitari Panda, alleged she was harassed and disowned by Panda, police said today.

The woman, identified as Latarani Panda of Jamujhadi village lodged a formal complaint at Simulia police station in the district.

As per her complaint, Latarani claimed she had married Panda at Jagannath Temple in Puri and both stayed together for some years till she stopped acting in order to raise her family. Over the years, she became mother of two sons. Her elder son had died few years ago and now she is living with her younger son, it added.

The woman said she Panda had proposed her to marry him when the two were acting for a jatra troup for many years. Later she got to know that Panda was already married and had two sons.

She even claimed they had jointly bought lands at some places here and her son had taken admission in a school stating Daitari Panda as his father.

The trouble started when the woman demanded money from Panda to run her family and to support her son’s studies. “He (Daitari Panda) who is now working for Konark Gananatya is neither helping us nor responding to my calls for the last few years,” the woman alleged.

In her complaint, she also alleged that she is getting threatening calls from various numbers, saying they will “kill” me and my son.

“I have lost my respect in the society and going through mental harassment after my husband disowned me. Please help me,” the hapless woman pleaded.

Meanwhile, Simulia Police Station Inspector-In-Charge Sanjay Parida said they have received the complaint and launched an investigation into the matter.

Odisha Sun Times tried to contact Daitari Panda but he couldn’t be reached for comment.