Man elopes with wife of friend who shelters him during lockdown

The deadly coronavirus, which has claimed thousands of lives the world over, seems to be wreaking havoc on marital relationships too going by an incident in Kerala's Ernakulam district where a man has allegedly scooted with the wife of his childhood friend who gave him shelter during the lockdown period.

32-year-old lothario, hailing from Munnar in Idukki district and working in a private company in Ernakulam, came in touch with his friend after 20 years when he got trapped in Muvattupuzha town following the COVID-19 lockdown announcement in March.

The man got the friend's number from his relatives in Munnar.

When he telephoned him seeking help for staying in Muvattupuzha, the friend took him to his house provided him shelter and food there till the end of April.

The husband became suspicious abut their affair following his friend's reluctance to leave the house even after Ernakulam district turned a 'green zone' (no COVID-19 case) on May 1, police said.

Police said the man and the 30-year-old woman had taken her two children along with them when they allegedly went missing from her husband's house last week.

When the police intensified the investigation based on the complaint of the woman's husband, the duo along with the children presented themselves before the police in Muvattupuzha this week.

In the presence of police, the woman had to yield her husband's argument that he has also right over his children, police sources said.

She, however, decided to go with her husband's friend, they said.

The woman and her now estranged husband had a love marriage.

According to the police, the duo had made an attempt to flee in an autorickshaw earlier but returned hours later following police intervention based on her husband's complaint.

They abandoned their plan after police threatened legal action against them under the Juvenile Justice Act.

The husband happily accepted his wife when she reunited with him, police said.

However, a few days later, she eloped with her lover and took her children also along with them in the car bought by her husband in her name, police said. She also took her jewellery.