Mechanical engineer and kin booked for dowry death in Mumbai

The police on Friday arrested a mechanical engineer, along with three of his family members for abetment of the suicide of a 27-year-old woman in Andheri on Tuesday.

The police on Friday arrested a mechanical engineer, along with three of his family members for abetment of the suicide of a 27-year-old woman in Andheri on Tuesday.

This is the third dowry death in Mumbai that Hindustan Times has reported within a month. (HT)

The accused have been booked for allegedly torturing the woman with demands of dowry. If convicted, the accused may be sentenced to life imprisonment.

This is the third dowry death that Hindustan Times has reported within a month.

According to the MIDC police, the incident took place on January 31 around 9am on the sixth floor of Jan Seva, a SRA building in Sainath Nagar in Andheri (east). The deceased, Kundan Sharma, although qualified to be a teacher, worked as a housewife. She lived with her husband Sanuj Sharma, 29, brother in law Sandeep, 23, an engineering student, father-in- law Chotelal Sharma, 53, and mother in law Anita, 47.

As per allegations in the FIR lodged by Kundan’s father Babulnath Sharma, his daughter got married to Sanuj on January 20 last year and he had given him gold and silver in dowry. They had also promised a bike to Sanuj.

Babulnath said, “We bought the bike in Sanuj’s name and I was paying the EMI for it. My garment business was not doing well and so I was unable to pay the EMI for three months. This enraged them. A day before committing suicide, my daughter called me and begged for the EMI. I had asked her not to worry.”

Babulnath said he has three daughters and two sons and was facing a financial crisis but Sanuj’s family did not pay heed and taunted Kundan over this. Kundan was also being harassed over domestic issues. She did not leave behind a suicide note.

She hung herself in the bedroom while her husband slept in the hall. Around 9.30am, her mother-in-law called her, but on getting no response, had the door broken open to find her hanging body.

Her father registered an FIR the same day and got them arrested. The accused have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 304 B (dowry death), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 306 (abetment to suicide) and 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty). They have been remanded in police custody till February 4.

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