In Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh, Sheelu married Jitendra Kumar (also known as Bablu) in 2017 with family consent. Four months into the marriage, Sheelu became pregnant. Overwhelmed by impending financial and familial responsibilities, Bablu secretly fled the household. His family subsequently filed a missing person report and later accused Sheelu and her family of murdering him. For seven years, Sheelu raised her son alone under the cloud of these false allegations. In August 2025, while browsing Instagram, Sheelu recognized Bablu in a video reel alongside another woman. She confirmed his identity with family members and presented the footage to the Hardoi police. Law enforcement tracked Bablu to Ludhiana, Punjab, where he was living with a second wife and working in a textile factory. Bablu confessed to abandoning Sheelu due to anxiety over parenthood and starting a new life. He was arrested and jailed under charges of fraud and bigamy under the Hindu Marriage Act. The broadcast also highlighted a secondary case from Uttar Pradesh wherein Rani Devi, a 52-year-old mother of four, was murdered by 25-year-old Arun after he realized her youthful social media appearance was created using digital filters.
Country: India
State/Province: Uttar Pradesh, India
City/Region: Hardoi
Incident Type: Non-Murder
Relationship Status: Married
Relationship Duration: Approximately 4 months (cohabitation before disappearance)
Incident Date: None
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How the relationship or connection began.
Approximately 4 months (cohabitation before disappearance)
Important relationship phases recorded for this case.
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English labels are shown first. Original-language titles are preserved for source verification.
Crime Tak - India · Original language: Hindi
EP 2055:जिसे Police नहीं ढूंढ पाई उसे Biwi ने ढूंढ निकाला,7 साल से गुम पति के खोने और मिलने की कहानी
Domestic Conflict
The case reflects a pattern of marital evasion and spousal abandonment driven by an inability or unwillingness to assume parental and domestic responsibilities. Rather than seeking a legal separation, the offender vanished and constructed an entirely separate life, taking advantage of police inaction and time to evade accountability. The subsequent false allegations leveled against the victim by the offender's family illustrate how missing person cases can be weaponized against vulnerable spouses.
Jitendra Kumar (Bablu) was arrested by the Hardoi police in Ludhiana, Punjab, following identification via Instagram reels. He was charged under provisions of fraud and the Hindu Marriage Act for contracting a bigamous second marriage while his first wife was alive. He was remanded to judicial custody in Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh. The case had previously languished as an unverified missing person/suspected homicide investigation for seven years.
For seven years, the investigation suffered from total stagnation. The offender's family initially filed a missing report and subsequently alleged that Sheelu and her family had murdered Bablu. Lack of physical evidence or leads led police to place the case into cold storage until social media footage resurfaced.
After marrying in 2017, Bablu experienced stress upon learning of Sheelu's pregnancy and fled to Ludhiana. He secured employment in a textile factory, met another woman, and remarried without divorcing Sheelu. In August 2025, Sheelu repeatedly reviewed an Instagram reel, confirmed Bablu's identity with his relatives, and brought the visual evidence to the police, enabling law enforcement to locate and arrest him.
The primary case involved high emotional stress, spousal desertion, and legal vulnerability for the abandoned wife, though no physical violence was reported between Sheelu and Bablu. In contrast, the secondary illustrative case of Rani Devi demonstrates severe lethality risks stemming from online deception, financial extortion, and abrupt reality confrontation.
Digital footprints on public social media platforms can serve as vital open-source intelligence to resolve long-unsolved missing persons and spousal desertion cases. The case highlights systemic flaws where missing person complaints are left inactive without thorough investigative follow-up.
Bablu exhibited emotional detachment, indifference, and a sudden change in attitude upon learning that Sheelu was four months pregnant.
The critical breakthrough occurred when Sheelu stumbled upon a public Instagram reel showing Bablu living with his second wife in Ludhiana.
The primary evidence consisted of the Instagram video footage, social media account location metadata, witness identification by Bablu's parents, and Bablu's subsequent confession.
Initial assumptions by in-laws that Bablu was murdered were completely refuted when video evidence proved he had voluntarily absconded to live a double life.
It remains unresolved whether Sheelu will pursue formal divorce or alimony, and how Bablu's second wife will respond legally once the judicial proceedings conclude.