After Sushma Swaraj's tweet to UP CM, Russian woman reunites with family

Agra: Hours after External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav requesting him to help the Russian national who was thrown out of the house by her mother-in-law, the distressed woman was finally reunited with her family.

The UP government shared a photo of Olga Efimenkova embracing her mother-in-law, who smiled for the cameras, making a picture-perfect family reunion photograph.

Efimenkova, who had been sitting in protest against her mother-in-law at the doorstep of the family home in Agra, extended her gratitude to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, hours after an FIR was lodged in this matter.

Speaking to ANI, Efimenkova said, "I want to thank Sushma Swaraj ji for taking prompt action. Sushma ji through her tweet directed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to help us. I want to thank both of them. An FIR has been lodged, finally."

"My mother-in-law keeps on asking for money, says that I'm from poor family and didn't bring anything along," she added.

Earlier in the day, Sushma urged Akhilesh to help the Russian daughter-in-law, who has been sitting in protest against her mother-in-law at the doorstep of the family home in Agra from where she has been kicked out.

"Akhilesh ji - Pl help this lady. @yadavakhilesh," she said in a tweet.

Efimenkova, who married Vikrant Singh Chandel in 2011, has been sitting outside her in-laws house on a hunger strike, claiming that she, her husband and daughter have been barred from entering the house.

"I am from Russia and I got married to Vikrant Singh Chandel in Agra in 2011. My problem is that my mother-in-law has thrown us out of the house and we have no other place to go. So now I am sitting here with my daughter at the gate of the house, as she (mother-in-law) is not letting me go inside," Olga had earlier said.

The Russian lady said that she would continue her protest until she and her family are given a place to stay in the house.

Olga further said that she was often tortured for being a foreigner and also accused of not bringing a dowry with her.

Backing his wife, Vikrant Chandel stated that his mother often physically assaulted Olga and kept asking for dowry and money.

"She has asked for 11 lakh rupees, but I don't have that. She has opened an illegal school and I don't think she has the right papers for that. I went to new Agra police station, but they are not helping. I have been out here since 20 days and now I don't even have any money left," he said.

However, Olga's mother-in-law Nirmala Chandel has maintained that she herself is living in a single room and had gifted the house to her daughter. She has also alleged that her son and daughter-in-law often indulge in gambling and do not care about her well-being.