E-Paper
Car, ₹10 lakh demand after love marriage? Husband arrested in Delhi woman's death case
The accused was arrested after the woman's family alleged she had been subjected to dowry-related harassment.
The husband of a 28-year-old newlywed woman who allegedly fell to her death from the third floor of an NDMC residential complex in Delhi's Lodhi Colony has been arrested on charges of dowry harassment, police said on Sunday.
The accused was arrested after the woman's family alleged she had been subjected to dowry-related harassment.
Police on Sunday said the 28-year-old woman, a resident of Pushp Vihar, was found critically injured outside the B-Block of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) residential flats at Palika Kunj in Delhi's Lodhi Colony on Saturday evening. Investigators believe she fell from the third floor of one of the buildings in the complex. She was rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), where doctors declared her brought dead.
The woman, who worked as a sales executive at a private company in Chhatarpur, had married on April 24 this year. Since the death occurred within seven years of marriage, mandatory inquest proceedings have been initiated and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) has been informed.
Police said they are yet to establish how the woman reached the NDMC housing complex or the circumstances that led to her death. CCTV footage from the area is being examined and residents are being questioned to reconstruct her movements before the incident.
Shocking allegations
Her family has alleged that she was either murdered or driven to death due to persistent harassment by her husband and in-laws over dowry. According to her uncle, the accused family demanded a car and ₹10 lakh after the couple's love marriage and allegedly subjected her to repeated physical and mental abuse.
The woman's relatives also claimed that while her husband was initially opposed to her working, he later insisted that she hand over her entire salary. As the sole breadwinner after her father's death five years ago, she wanted to continue sending ₹5,000 every month to her mother, which allegedly became a recurring source of conflict between the couple.
The family further alleged that the couple had a major argument over her salary and financial support for her mother a day before her death. Expressing regret, her uncle said the family had advised her to "adjust" and return to her husband despite her complaints of harassment.
Her younger brother has also rejected the possibility of suicide, insisting that she "would never end her life," and has demanded strict action against her husband and in-laws.
