Odisha Teen Admits Fabricating Abuse Claims Against US Adoptive Mother to Return to India

The teen admitted she made false allegations because she was in love with a man in Balasore and wanted to return to Odisha. (Representational)

Bhubaneswar:

A 19-year-old woman has recanted her previous accusations against her American adoptive mother, admitting on Tuesday that she fabricated allegations of physical and mental torture simply to facilitate her return to Odisha.

The woman, Puja alias Sejal John, confessed that she invented the claims because she had fallen in love with a man in Balasore and was desperate to return to her home state.

Upon arriving at Biju Patnaik International Airport, Puja immediately clarified the situation: "Whatever I had said in the previous video is false. My adoptive mother never tortured me nor forced me to convert. I told lies on my own to return to Odisha. I appeal to the US authorities to release my adoptive mother. She is in great trouble over my allegation."

Puja was repatriated to Odisha through joint efforts of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Odisha government after she made an emotional public appeal claiming abuse and forced religious conversion by her American mother.

In that appeal, she had also requested Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to intervene and help facilitate her return.

When questioned about her motives for making such serious allegations against the woman who had adopted her, raised her, and provided her with a new life, Puja explained: "I was in love with a man in Balasore in Odisha and therefore wanted to return to the state. My visa had also expired since 2023. This is the reason why I made false allegations against my adoptive mother." She had been adopted by the American woman in 2018.

In her earlier video message, Puja had pleaded with the Odisha Chief Minister to bring her back home, claiming, "I am tortured a lot here. I want to return to Odisha and find my real parents." She had also alleged being forced to perform excessive household chores.

According to police sources, Puja was born in 2006 and became separated from her biological parents while traveling on a train outside the state. She was rescued by Childline and brought to Odisha.

She was initially housed at Nilagiri in Balasore, and subsequently at a Kanya Ashram in Naharkanta, Bhubaneswar, before being adopted by the American woman seven years ago.

Police investigations revealed that she had reconnected with a boy she knew from school through social media in 2023.

Puja was currently in police custody and was being transported to Balasore.