Popular Ollywood singer Humane Sagar, a Christian, tortures Hindu wife for refusing to convert

The Odia singer had once thrashed wife Shriya Mishra for keeping a photo of Lord Jagannath hidden in her suitcase despite not being allowed to worship any Hindu god. He had even threatened her with life if she continued to do so.

Cuttack, Jan 20: The lawyer of the renowned Ollywood singer Humane Sagar's wife Shriya Mishra, who has brought domestic violence allegations against her husband, has claimed that Sagar, a Christian, was exhorting pressure on Shriya, a Hindu Brahmin, to convert from Hinduism to Christianity since marriage.

According to reports, Shriya has lodged a complaint against her singer husband at Mahila Police station here on Wednesday, levelling charges of physical torture and mental harassment against him. Sources said she first called on Cuttack DCP Pinak Mishra in this regard. The DCP in turn directed the Mahila Police to probe into the allegations and also asked the warring couple to seek counselling first as per the rules.

Speaking to the media, Shriya's lawyer has further alleged that Sagar and his parents never allowed her to worship any Hindu god. Hence, she had kept a photo of Lord Jagannath hidden in her suitcase. When Sagar once came to know about the hidden photo, he thrashed her black and blue and threatened her with life as well if she continued to do so.

According to industry sources, the popular Odia singer had in the past refused to sing any prayer of Lord Jagannath, known as 'bhajan' or 'Janaana' in Odia, when asked by well-known music director Debashis Mallick aka Japani. In a police complaint, Japani had alleged that Sagar had even issued life threats to him if the music director made any further request to him to sing the prayers.

Sagar considers Bollywood star Salman Khan as his icon and addresses him as 'Bhaijaan', who runs an outfit called 'Being Human' which has an uncanny resemblance with Sagar's first name Humane. The singer is an active member of ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and has been seen campaigning for the party during elections many times in the past. He formally joined the party in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in March 2019, ahead of the Assembly polls.

Known in the industry as a rabid 'womaniser', Sagar is also accused of coming home drunk and physically assaulting Shriya very often over these issues. It is alleged that Sagar's family members too have been exhorting excessive pressure on Shriya to attend the Church regularly and take the 'holy dip', called 'Duban' in Odia, there.

Sagar married Shriya, also a singer and his fellow participant in the 2012 show "Voice of Odisha, Season 2", in 2017. They have a daughter. However, the couple is currently staying separately after developing marital discord. While the singer stays at CDA Sector-6 in Cuttack, his wife has been staying at her father's place in Balasore since the last few months.

According to her lawyer, Sagar was torturing Shriya for two more reasons too - for not bringing more dowry and for giving birth to a girl child instead of a boy. He even claimed that due to his son fetish, Sagar never loved their daughter and used to behave with the kid indifferently. He further alleged that "Humane has become so 'inhuman' that he had even tried to kill Shriya with active support from his mother."

According to Shriya's father, the pressure to convert to Christianity started soon after the marriage, so this has been going on for the last five years. Shriya, who has completed BTech, was denied permission by her in-laws to study further whereas she wanted to do MTech. The hapless father has now demanded justice for her who has undergone such tremendous physical and mental trauma all these years due to religious bigotry and orthodoxy.