Husband and brother-in-law arrested after woman falls to death for dowry

Veena Kumari fell victim to a case of dowry death. Her husband and one of the brother in laws have been arrested.

A 25-year-old woman died after falling off a three-storey building at Dasghara village, near Inderpuri in west Delhi, police said, adding that they had registered a case of dowry death , based on the statements from her family members, against her husband and his two brothers on Wednesday. Police later arrested the husband and one of the brothers.

Veena Kumari, a 25 year old woman had fallen from the third floor terrace of a building at Holi Chowk in Dasghara village after being harrassed for dowry. (represntative/HT_PRINT)

The victim was identified as Veena Kumari. Her husband, 27-year-old Raju Singh, and his 22-year-old brother, Rajkumar, were arrested on Wednesday evening. Raju’s other brother is a minor boy, aged around 17, the police said.

Speaking to HT, Veena’s family alleged that she was being “physically and mentally tortured” by the three from nearly six months after her wedding in December 2022 because they were unhappy with the items given to them as dowry at the time of the marriage. They had been demanding a Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle, which costs around ₹2.5 lakh, a large screen television, and other household items.

Deputy commissioner of police (west) Sharad Bhaskar Darade said, on Monday night around 10pm, the police control room received a call and the caller informed the police that a woman had fallen from the third floor terrace of a building at Holi Chowk in Dasghara village. A police team then rushed her to a nearby hospital, where the attending doctors declared her brought dead.

She lived in the flat on the second-floor of the building with her husband and her two brothers-in-law. The couple has a six-month-old son. Raju works in a private firm as a helper while his arrested brother works with a tour and travel company, the police said.

“As the marriage had taken place within seven years of the woman’s death, proceedings under law were initiated and the matter was informed to the sub-divisional magistrate of Karol Bagh. The SDM recorded the statements of the woman’s family members, who are from Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh and reached Delhi after being informed about her death,” said the DCP.

A senior police officer, who asked not to be named, said that Veena’s family members in their statements alleged that her husband and his two brothers had been harassing her because their dowry demands were not being fulfilled.

“On the basis of the enquiry, statements of the woman’s family members, and autopsy that was conducted today (Wednesday), we have registered a case of dowry death under section 80 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against her husband and his two brothers. Further investigations are underway,” said Darade.

Just minutes before her death, in her last phone call with her elder sister who lives in south Delhi, Veena alleged she was being beaten by her husband and his brothers and believed that she would not survive, Veena’s brother, Raj Kumar told HT.

“She asked our sister to take custody of her six-month-old son and not let him stay with her in-laws at any cost. Then, the phone call was disconnected. My sister told me about this. But when we tried to contact her again, her phone was unreachable. Panicked, we left for her house,” said the 22-year-old.

Raj further said that they were on the way, when his sister’s 22-year-old brother-in-law informed him over phone that Veena had fallen off the building and they were rushing her to a nearby private hospital.

“When I asked the brother-in-law where he was when she fell off the building, he told me that he was on the terrace from where she fell. We are very sure that her husband and his brothers threw them down from the terrace. We have recorded our statements and hope to get justice,” he added.