Panjab University assistant professor held for dowry death

Chandigarh Police said the accused, Sachin Chahal, 30, taught at Panjab University’s history department; he married the deceased last year

Police have arrested an assistant professor at Panjab University for dowry death after his wife, a former national-level archery player, was found dead at their house in Nayagaon on Friday.

The deceased woman’s father told the police that ever since his daughter married Sachin in 2022, he and his family members had been torturing her for a flat in Chandigarh and a car. (iStock)

Police said the accused, Sachin Chahal, 30, taught at the varsity’s history department. Apart from competing in archery, his deceased wife, 27, also held an MA degree, but was not working currently.

The matter came to fore on the complaint of the deceased’s father. He told the police that ever since his daughter married Sachin in 2022, he and his family members had been torturing her for a flat in Chandigarh and a car. He alleged that his daughter was frequently assaulted by her husband.

The father said on Friday, he received a call from Sachin around 8.30 am that his daughter had not opened her room’s door since Thursday evening. “When he forced the door open on my insistence, my daughter was found dead,” he said.

“While the woman’s in-laws claim that she died due to a heart attack, her father alleged that she was murdered,” said a police official privy to the case, adding that the body had been sent for autopsy to ascertain the exact cause of death.

On the father’s complaint, police arrested Sachin and produced him before a court that sent him to two-day police custody.

He is facing a case under Section 304-B (dowry death) of the Indian Penal Code, which entails imprisonment from seven years to life.