'Naagin' act: UP woman elopes with lover, leaves snake skin on bed to escape arranged marriage

In a bizarre twist of events, a woman from the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh went missing from her home in Auraiya. This case took a surreal turn when her family found a snake skin on her bed, along with her clothes. Connecting the dots, the family prematurely concluded it to be a case of metamorphosis. Indian soaps with ‘naagins’ (cobra) as the lead character could have possibly been the source of this imaginative plot. Human-to-serpent transformations are not a rarity on these shows.

But as the matter was brought to the police, an investigation was ordered. During the probe, authorities found that 24-year-old Reena had eloped with her lover, who is a resident of the same village. The couple reportedly eloped on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, while the planning had been on for much longer.

The case seemed twisted at first as Reena left behind a misleading trail of planted evidence, which led her family to believe she had transformed. Reports suggest she had been planning this for about three months and had been making claims that she saw snakes in her dreams. This may have tricked her family and neighbours into believing the story she loosely sketched.

Investigation and big revelations

The police traced the 24-year-old from her mobile, which led to her lover, who had also gone missing the same night. Reena is the youngest among six siblings and was to be married soon, as her family had looked for a match. Unwilling to go ahead with her family’s choice, she may have considered this her safest alibi.

Along with the snake skin, Reena had also kept bangles and rings, and was carrying an idol of the serpent god she had recently brought from the Sheshnag temple in Mainpuri.