Husband, in-laws booked 7 months after woman’s death

Police in Kapurthala district on Wednesday booked the husband and in-laws of a 30-yearold woman, who died under mysterious circumstances seven months ago, on dowry death charges.

Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) and inquiry officer of the case, Gurmeet Singh, said as per the preliminary investigation, the woman, Raghubir Kaur alias Reet, 30, of Mayani Baggupuriya village in Kapurthala district, had died on July 11 last year in her in-laws’ house.

“Earlier, the Bholath police had initiated an inquiry under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) on the basis of preliminary investigations and statements of her family and later closed the probe. However, the police on Wednesday revised the sections on basis of the post-mortem examination report, which revealed that the woman was physically tortured,” the ASI said.

The police subsequently registered a case under Section 304-B (dowry death) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against woman’s husband Manpreet, mother-in-law Meena, brother-in-law Harpreet Singh.

Victim’s father Jagtar Singh, 60, of Chanian village in Nakodar said her daughter married Manpreet Singh six years ago and the couple had two children. Jagtar Singh claimed that he had given “enough dowry” to her husband and in-laws.

“Around six months after her marriage, the accused started demanding dowry and even thrashed my daughter. We had intervened on several occasions but the accused did not stop,” Singh told the police in his statement. The ASI said raids were on to nab the absconding accused.

POLICE SAY THAT THE POSTMORTEM REPORT REVEALED THAT 30-YEAR-OLD RAGHUBIR KAUR WAS PHYSICALLY TORTURED