Court denies bail to brother-in-law in Nikki Bhati murder case

Counsel Manoj Bhati said the first bail plea was moved for Rohit and argued that he was not at home when Nikki sustained the burns on August 21.

A city court on Friday rejected the first bail plea of 28-year-old Rohit Bhati, an accused in the Nikki Bhati murder case, citing insufficient grounds.

Sessions judge observed that the allegations against the suspect are serious and that, at this stage, Rohit’s involvement cannot be ruled out

The case pertains to the death of Nikki, who was rushed to a private hospital in Greater Noida with severe burn injuries on August 21. She was referred to a hospital in Delhi, where she was declared brought dead. Following the incident, Nikki’s family levelled a series of allegations against her husband’s family, including demands for dowry, mental harassment, objections to her use of social media, and assault.

On November 22, police arrested Nikki’s husband, Vipin Bhati — whom she married in 2016 — along with his brother Rohit, father Satveer, and mother Daya on charges of murder, voluntarily causing hurt, and criminal conspiracy. Police later filed a 173-page chargesheet on November 20, naming the four as accused.

Counsel Manoj Bhati said the first bail plea was moved for Rohit and argued that he was not at home when Nikki sustained the burns on August 21.

“Rohit worked as a driver at the Sirsa toll plaza. On the day of the incident, he was at his workplace and had gone to Omicron 1 in Greater Noida with the plaza’s manager, Alok Kumar. While taking his manager to Omicron 3, he received a phone call at 5.50pm from Vipin informing him that Nikki had sustained burns.

“He immediately informed his manager. In a second call, his family told him they were rushing Nikki to Fortis Hospital. Rohit went directly to the hospital, where he helped place her on a stretcher. The incident was recorded by CCTV cameras, and hospital staff also stated this during the police investigation,” the bail rejection order said, quoting Rohit’s version.

The counsel further argued that Rohit’s mobile location was not at the spot at the time of the incident, which the police investigation had also noted. “Rohit’s involvement is falsely alleged,” he said.

Udham Khedi, appearing for the prosecution, said: “The distance between Nikki’s home and Sirsa is barely 300 metres and takes about two minutes to cover. Eight minutes after the incident, Vipin called his brother, as shown in the call detail records. He (Rohit) left home to establish that he was elsewhere.”

Considering the facts, sessions judge Atul Shrivastava observed that the allegations against the suspect are serious and that, at this stage, Rohit’s involvement cannot be ruled out. “I am of the opinion that there are not sufficient grounds to grant bail to the accused,” he said, while rejecting the bail application.