The police in India have charged a woman, Shakuntala Devi, to court in Sasaram, Bihar, after she was discovered alive and living with another man in Jharkhand, 12 years after she was believed to have been killed, Gulf News reported on Wednesday.

Her disappearance from her marital home in Rohtas district of Bihar and subsequent presumed death in 2014 led to the jailing of her husband, Arun Mehta, as well as the arrest of his father, Dilip, his brother, Govind Kumar and other members of his family over her alleged murder.

Ms Shakuntala’s brother had reported her missing and told the police that she had, before then, been complaining of harassment by her in-laws over dowry demands.

The police registered the case, and two days later, the body of an unidentified woman was recovered from a canal near Khanda village. The brother and a local official later reportedly identified the body as hers.

A post-mortem examination was conducted, after which murder-related charges were added to the case.

After spending time in jail, her husband secured bail while legal proceedings continued.

According to the lawyer, the case eventually ended in a financial settlement, with the woman’s family demanding Rs 800,000 to settle the dispute.

Mr Mehta’s family alleged that they had to sell ancestral land to raise the money, but in July 2026, the family’s lawyer said Mr Mehta’s father-in-law received information that she had been spotted in Jharkhand.

Family members travelled to the suspected location, recognised her, and subsequently approached the Rohtas police, who conducted an investigation that traced her to Labhari village in Garhwa district of Jharkhand.

The police apprehended her, brought her back to Rohtas, and produced her before a court in Sasaram to answer allegations including fraud and criminal conspiracy, although the investigation is still ongoing.

According to the police, she had been living there under another name, Kanti Devi, and living with another man.

The police have also commenced an investigation into the real identity of the woman whose body was recovered from the canal in 2014, to determine how it came to be identified as Ms Shakuntala and why her brother identified the body as his sister.

The police have vowed to take legal action against anyone found to have committed any offence in connection with the case.