The woman had come to submit a petition to Collector Archana Patnaik and suddenly squatted on the floor just at the entrance.
The Collector, who was passing through in her car, did not notice her.
The woman later told reporters that she had left for Kerala on May 23. Her husband had gone for work in a workshop attached to a jewellery store.
She later received a call from the shop owner, stating that her husband had not reported for duty and had taken away 80 grams of gold.
However she was asked to go to another police station at Big Bazaar Street and lodged a complaint there, Smitha said.
The woman said she had come to the collectorate to seek help to trace her husband as she and her children were suffering and they did not have any other means of livelihood.