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Noida dowry case victim Nikki Bhati's family let in-laws cremate her: ‘Their last request’
Nikki Bhati, a 28-year-old woman, was allegedly set afire by her husband and in-laws over dowry demands on August 21.
The last rites of the victim in the alleged Greater Noida dowry death case were conducted by her in-laws, who are accused of setting her afire, after the deceased's family “reluctantly allowed” them to perform the cremation on their request.
Victim Nikki Bhati's brother, Vicky Payla, said on Sunday, “When we brought her body to our home in Dadri, her in-laws repeatedly requested that they be allowed to conduct the last rites. It was their last wish and after initial hesitation, we agreed.”
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The family agreed to give Nikki Bhati's body to her in-laws after her sister Kanchan, who was married to accused Vipin Bhati's brother, insisted they be given “one more chance”, citing the “many chances” given to them over the past several years.
According to Vicky, the Bhati family’s relatives also conveyed that refusing them would hurt their pride.
Nikki Bhati, a 28-year-old woman, was allegedly set afire by her husband and in-laws over dowry demands on August 21. Nikki's sister Kanchan, married to Vipin Bhati's brother Rohit Bhati, shared videos showing Nikki engulfed in flames, claiming that she was set on fire by Vipin after an assault that day.
Noida Police has arrested Nikki's husband Vipin, her brother-in-law, father-in-law and mother-in-law in connection with the matter.
Investigators familiar with the case details said that Nikki’s murder was the culmination of months of hostility over her wish to run a beauty parlour and her active presence on Instagram, where she regularly posted reels with her sister, Kanchan.
On the day of the incident, police said, Nikki again asked her husband to allow her to reopen the parlour she co-owned. Vipin refused, insisting that “women in the family are not allowed to run businesses or create social media content.”
Disturbinb clips of Nikki Bhati from the day of the incident have surfaed on social media, with one showing her husband assaulting her, and a another capturing a horrifying moment of her engulfed in flames, rushing down a staircase.
Amid new details and claims emerging since the case hit headlines, an undated CCTV footage has surfaced claiming to show the accused outside his house when Nikki Bhati was afire.
Nikki and her sister Kanchan had bo th married into the Bhati family of Greater Noida's Sirsa in 2016.
