Delhi: 24-year-old woman dies in Dwarka; father alleges torture over dowry

A 24-year-old woman was found dead in Delhi; her husband arrested for dowry death after her father reported abuse and demands for dowry.

A 24-year-old woman was found dead at her in-laws’ house in Chhawla of southwest Delhi’s Dwarka on Thursday.Police said her husband has been arrested for dowry death after her father alleged repeated physical and mental torture by the in-laws.

The woman's body has been preserved for postmortem and the exact cause of death will be ascertained on the basis of autopsy reports, police said. (Representational/HT Photo)

Deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Ankit Singh said Komal alias Versha was a resident of Ghummanhera village and her father is an electrician. Her father told police that the woman got married to Kumar, resident of Badi Sarai, in April this year.

“Soon after marriage, her husband , mother-in-law and father-in-law started harassing her for dowry, making demands, and mentally torturing her. Her husband used to beat her up and abuse her. Due to this, there were frequent fights between them,” the father told police in the FIR, adding that he had visited their home a month ago when the family fought with him too.

“That is when my daughter told me that they all keep taunting her that she hasn’t brought anything in dowry and keep demanding more. She told me that they don’t even get her phone recharged to prevent her from talking to us,” the father said.

On Thursday, Komal’s father said that his elder son received a call from Kumar’s family who told him that the woman had died by suicide. They rushed to the house and took her to Rao Tula Ram Memorial Hospital, where the doctors declared her dead.

Her body has been preserved for postmortem and the exact cause of death will be ascertained on the basis of autopsy reports, police said.

The father alleged foul play in the death after which a case was registered against Kumar and his father under sections 80(2) (dowry death), 85 (cruelty by husband and in-laws) and 3/5 (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). “The accused will be arrested after investigation. A magisterial inquiry has also been initiated,” an officer aware of the matter said.

Paras Tyagi, who works for social issues in Delhi, said “This is a grim reminder that despite Delhi’s image as a modern metropolis, it remains gripped by social ills and orthodoxies that continue to destroy lives.”

The news comes a day after it was reported that a 26-year-old woman was allegedly tortured and set on fire by her husband and in-laws in Greater Noida’s Sirsa village over dowry. A video of the crime was shared widely on social media, and the husband has been arrested.