25-yr-old pregnant woman hangs self, in-laws held

A 25-year-old pregnant woman committed suicide in her Nallasopara flat on Friday night. Police arrested her in-laws for dowry harassment on Saturday.

A 25-year-old pregnant woman committed suicide in her Nallasopara flat on Friday night. Police arrested her in-laws for dowry harassment on Saturday.

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The deceased’s father, however, has refused to claim the body unless Nallasopara police charge the three accused under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.

The deceased, Varsha Purohit hanged herself from the ceiling in the living room in her Star Residence flat in Evershine City, at Nallasopara. Neighbours said her in-laws, Ashok Purohit (56) and his wife Sangita (53) and their son Roopsingh Rajpurohit (30) tried to cremate the body without informing the police.

The neighbours informed the woman’s father, Babulal Rajpurohit (57), who lives in Ajmer in Rajasthan. Her father arrived in time and informed the police. Her husband has been admitted to a Vasai hospital after he allegedly suffered a heart attack.

“On being informed by the neighbours, I reached Nallasopara on Saturday morning with 150 relatives from my village, and informed the Nallasopara police,” said Babulal.

The body is currently at Thane Civil Hospital. The post-mortem revealed she was three months pregnant. “My daughter already had a three-year-old daughter. Her husband Ramesh runs a catering business, while Roopsingh owns a glass business in Vasai,” said Babulal.

He added: “My daughter was married to Ramesh seven years ago and since their first day together, she had been harassed for dowry. The day before she committed suicide, Varsha phoned me and said her in-laws were physically torturing her, but we managed to calm her down. The next day, she hung herself.”

API R Raskar of Nallasopara police said: “We’ve arrested Ashok, Sangita and Roopsingh under Sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and Section 498 A (cruelty to a woman by husband) on Saturday. We will arrest Ramesh soon – he has suffered a heart attack and is admitted in the Cardinal Gracias Hospital at Vasai.”

Raskar added: “The trio have been produced in the Vasai holiday court, and [at the time of going to press], the Vasai Magistrate is yet to remand them.”