Rajbiraj, August 30 :

A pregnant woman, Fulo Devi Yadav of Saptari, who was in Maoist custody, died on August 26, locals said.

A widow, Yadav had married Kisun Dev Mahato and had been living in India. They had returned home only a few days ago and villagers had separated them. Maoist cadre Shubha Narayan Yadav had then held Fulo captive, a local, Raghunath Mahato, said.

Yadav, who has a child from Mahato, was allegedly tortured in captivity after she refused to leave Mahato. “She was pregnant,” Mahato’s father Bindi said.

Maoists had been asking the couple to live separately, said a CPN-UML (Saptari) member Rajan Thapa. However, the chief of the Maoist people’s government, Govinda Chaudhary, said Yadav died as she had consumed poison. Chaudhary refuted charges that she died in Maoist custody.