Husband, in-laws booked for dowry death as Ludhiana woman dies

As the woman’s parents alleged that the accused murdered her for dowry, Ludhiana police registered a first-information report (FIR) against Upinder Singh of Uttam Nagar Colony and his parents

The Sadar police booked a chicken shop owner and his parents on charges of dowry death after his wife died on Monday.

Ludhiana police officials said a hunt is on to arrest the accused. (HT Photo)

The victim had married 17 months ago. The couple has a 5-month-old son.

As the woman’s parents alleged that the accused murdered her for dowry, police registered a first-information report (FIR) against Upinder Singh of Uttam Nagar Colony and his parents.

The woman’s kin alleged that the accused administered poison after thrashing her.

Police said more details will become clear after a post-mortem report.

The FIR was registered following a statement by Hardeep Singh of Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, Amritsar, who is the victim’s father.

In his complaint, he said his daughter, Harmanpreet Kaur, 27, had married Upinder on February 23, 2023.

He alleged that soon after the wedding, the accused started harassing her daughter for dowry. She was suffering from depression and shared her ordeal with him several times. They had intervened in the matter several times and the accused promised them that he would not harass her, but to no avail, the complainant said.

The complainant added that on Monday, he received a call from Anjali, landlady of the accommodation where his daughter and her husband lived. Anjali told him that Simranpreet was not well and had been taken to the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).

After some time, he received another call from the woman, who told him that Simranpreet had passed away.

He added that they rushed to Ludhiana and filed a complaint. Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Pritpal Singh, who is investigating the case, said that the complainant alleged that the accused had thrashed and administered poison to his daughter.

A post-mortem was performed on Tuesday and police are waiting for the chemical examination report of the viscera of the victim to ascertain the cause of death.

A case under Section 80 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was registered against the accused. A hunt is on for their arrest.