The father of the Greater Noida woman who was allegedly set on fire by her husband and in-laws over a demand of ₹36 lakh in dowry, has said that the accused should be shot dead in an encounter.
28-year-old Vipin Bhati is the main accused in the alleged dowry murder of 28-year-old Nikki Bhati. While Vipin has been arrested by the cops, the other co-accused in the crime, his father Satyaveer Bhati and brother Rohit Bhati, are still absconding.
Apart from demanding that all the accused be killed in an encounter, Nikki’s father, Bhikari Singh Payla, has also said that their house should be razed as a punishment for the crime.
"They are killers, they should be shot, their home razed. My daughter was bringing up her son by running a parlour. They tortured her. The whole family was involved in the conspiracy, and they killed my daughter," Payla told NDTV.
Nikki's father said that she would not discuss much about her life with her in-laws and tried her best to make the marriage work.
"She did not want me to worry, so she tried her best to make the marriage work. But they are killers," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"She did not want me to worry, so she tried her best to make the marriage work. But they are killers," he said.
{{/usCountry}}Payla urged Uttar Pradesh's Yogi Adityanath government to take action against the accused and kill them.
“They shoot pickpockets in the leg, and they won't kill these murderers? This is a BJP government,” he said.
He also alleged that Vipin was in a relationship with someone else and wanted Nikki out of the way.
Later, Payla gave a detailed account of events that led to Nikki's death.
"My elder daughter called me up to inform what had happened. We reached the hospital. These people had set her on fire and fled. Their neighbours took her to Fortis Hospital. When we reached, she had 70% burns. They referred us to Safdarjung Hospital, citing their inability to treat her. We booked an ambulance and took her to Safdarjung Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. These monsters didn't think twice before doing this to someone's daughter. They didn't think about how we educated her and got her married. Didn't it hurt them when they were setting someone's daughter on fire?... They should be hanged... Her mother-in-law poured kerosene while her husband set her on fire... They kept asking for dowry; now their demands have been met. I just married my daughter as per traditions... Their dowry demands have been met now that my daughter has died... They demanded a car and tortured my daughter for that... That person is neither man nor human, he is a butcher... We once brought her home because of all this domestic violence, but because of societal pressure, they came and took her back on the promise of not repeating this. It continued... Now they have got what they wanted... Both my daughters were married into the same family. My grandson has also told everyone how and what happened," he told ANI.
The Nikki Bhati case
The horrifying case of Nikki, who was set ablaze allegedly by her husband and in-laws in Sirsa village over a dowry demand of ₹36 lakh, has shaken the region and triggered protests demanding justice. Police confirmed that Nikki succumbed to her injuries while being shifted from Noida's Fortis Hospital to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital.
Perhaps the most chilling detail is that Nikki’s six-year-old son saw his mother being set on fire. In his statement, the boy recounted: “Meri mumma ke upar kuch dala, fir unko chanta mara fir lighter se aag laga di” (they poured something on my mother, slapped her and set her ablaze with a lighter). The child’s testimony adds a harrowing dimension to the brutality of the crime.
Two disturbing videos of the incident are circulating online. One shows Nikki being assaulted and dragged by her hair, while another captures her limping down the stairs after being set ablaze. The clips, reportedly recorded by Nikki’s elder sister Kanchan, who is married into the same family, have intensified public outrage.
Even as police registered a murder case, an Instagram post by Vipin surfaced, suggesting Nikki had died by suicide. “Why did you leave me? The world is calling me a killer, Nikki,” read his post, followed by a video of him smiling with Nikki and their son. Police have described this as an apparent attempt to mislead and deflect blame.