Sahida Begum, a widow with a son and a daughter, was full of hope when she decided to marry Mohammad Iqrar in March. The hope did not take long to turn to horror for the 30-year-old beautician.

Far from starting a new life, she nearly lost her 13-year-old girl — kidnapped, abused and nearly sold off by stepfather Iqrar.

Sahida could, in fact, have lost her forever had not a team from Bowbazar police station rescued the girl from a village in Uttar Pradesh, 48 km from Kanpur, just before she was sold off.

Iqrar has been arrested, along with his sister’s husband Md Ali Hassan, and remanded in police custody.

“Apart from trying to sell her off, the man had physically abused the girl,” said an officer of Bowbazar police station.

“Iqrar had planned everything in advance, having roped in brother-in-law Hassan and selected a remote hideout,” added the officer.

The girl, yet to come out of shock, has been taken to a home in Liluah. She will be sent for medical tests.

The girl said she had sensed that her stepfather was about to sell her off — the room in which she was kept would always be under lock and key, only to open briefly to let in occasional visitors.

Police learnt about the case on October 23, when Sahida lodged a complaint against her husband with Bowbazar thana.

She narrated to the cops how a day before, on her return from work, she found her house in Giribabu Lane locked and her husband missing along with her daughter.

On launching a probe, the sleuths came to know that relations between Sahida and Iqrar had turned sour soon after marriage.

The principal point of conflict: Iqrar wanted a child but Sahida had already undergone surgery to prevent conception.

“A reluctant Sahida had agreed to undergo treatment to comply with Iqrar’s wish, and would remain hospitalised at times for this. To ensure that Iqrar did not face any problem, she had brought her daughter from her brother’s house in Tiljala to manage the household. And the man took advantage of the situation,” the officer said.

Based on the inputs of a few witnesses who had seen the girl walking away with her stepfather and another man, officers first raided a village near Gaya, in Bihar, and picked up Hassan.

“Hassan told us where Iqrar had gone with the girl. Iqrar denied during interrogation that he wanted to sell off the girl. He said he wanted to marry his step-daughter,” the officer said.