Husband, father-in-law booked for dowry death 2 yrs after woman’s suicide

The family of the deceased had approached the court after police failed to take cognisance of the matter

Navi Mumbai: More than one-and-a-half-years after a 29-year-old woman died by suicide at her apartment in Kharghar, police have booked her husband and father-in-law for dowry death following an order issued by the magistrate’s court in Panvel. The family of the deceased had approached the court after police failed to take cognisance of the matter.

Husband, father-in-law booked for dowry death 2 yrs after woman’s suicide

“I travelled for over 15 hours from Ahmednagar to Panvel for each of the 19 hearings in court, so that a case could be registered in the matter. I am glad police have booked her husband and father-in-law,” her elder brother, who lives in Ahmednagar in Madhya Pradesh, told Hindustan Times.

On April 20, 2023, the Kharghar sector 12 resident was found hanging from the ceiling fan in her apartment. The following day, police registered an accidental death report (ADR) in the matter although her family members suspected she was compelled to take the step owing to harassment for dowry by her husband and her father-in-law.

“My sister endured a lot of suffering in the five years of marriage,” said her elder brother. She had called their father a few hours before she died by suicide, saying her in-laws were coaxing her to get money and gold which could be used for her sister-in-law’s wedding, and threatening to hurt her if she did not do so. “Both my sister’s and her husband’s phone became unreachable after that. Then, at 10pm, my father received another call saying my sister had died by suicide,” he said.

In May 2023, the family approached the magistrate’s court in Panvel, seeking the registration of a first information report as they suspected the deceased had been murdered. Nearly 18 months and 19 hearings later, on November 12, the court accepted their plea and ordered the Kharghar police to lodge an FIR and investigate the matter. The circumstances of the death within seven years of marriage were not normal and the accused may have committed cognisable and non-cognisable offences, the court said, stressing on the necessity of a police probe.

According to the FIR registered on November 25 following the court order, the deceased was regularly harassed over dowry demands and taunted for not being able to bear children. Her husband and father-in-law have been booked under sections 304 (B) (dowry death) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

“According to the post mortem report, the cause of death was hanging. So it was registered as an accidental death. Now that the family is alleging murder over dowry demands, we will conduct a thorough probe,” said senior police inspector Dipak Vijay Surve.