Missing MP woman lawyer who fled due to marriage pressure found at Nepal border

Bhopal: Archana Tiwari, a 29-year-old lawyer and civil judge aspirant who went missing while travelling on the Narmada Express earlier this month, has been traced and recovered from the Nepal border in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri, police confirmed on Wednesday.

Tiwari, a resident of Katni district in Madhya Pradesh, was last seen on 7 August while travelling to her hometown. She was reportedly occupying berth number 3 in coach B3 of the Narmada Express when she went missing. A day later, her brother Ankush Tiwari filed a missing person’s complaint with the Government Railway Police (GRP) in Katni. The case was subsequently transferred to GRP Rani Kamalapati station in Bhopal, and a formal investigation was launched on 9 August.

Superintendent of Police (GRP), Rahul Lodha, said efforts to trace the missing woman continued for nearly 10 to 12 days before she was located at the India-Nepal border. 

Why was she missing?

According to the police, Tiwari had completed her graduation in Katni and practised law in Jabalpur for two years. She had recently been living in Indore and preparing for the civil judge examination at the Madhya Pradesh High Court. However, tensions reportedly arose within her family, who were pressuring her to abandon her legal career and settle down in marriage.

“Her family had fixed her marriage shortly before the incident, which led to a heated disagreement,” said SP Lodha. “She was warned to end her studies and proceed with the marriage, but she wished to continue her legal career.”

Police investigations revealed that Tiwari had conspired with two acquaintances--Saransh Jokchand (26), a resident of Shujalpur, and Tajendar Singh--to leave home. She reportedly exited the train in a CCTV blind spot near Itarsi railway station, and subsequently travelled to Shujalpur, Indore, Hyderabad, and Delhi before crossing into Nepal, where she stayed in Kathmandu.

The breakthrough came when police detained Jokchand and uncovered the plan. Authorities later made contact with Tiwari, who was brought back to India via Lakhimpur Kheri on the Nepal border. She was then taken to Delhi and finally Bhopal.