3 of family booked over dowry death, abetting suicide of 31-yr-old woman

MUMBAI: The police on Saturday booked a man and his parents from Chembur on charges of dowry death and abetment of suicide after his 31-year-old wife died last Monday. The woman in her suicide note held her husband and in-laws responsible. Her family has also alleged foul play. The preliminary post-mortem report showed she was Covid-19 positive.

According to Chembur police, the woman allegedly killed herself on June 22 at their flat in a plush residential society in Chembur. The first information report (FIR), a copy of which is with HT, stated the woman from Kutch, Gujarat, had come in contact with the accused man in 2014 through a matrimonial site. Both of them were divorcees and got married in February 2015 in Mumbai.

The woman’s mother, who is the complainant, alleged the accused family had first demanded ₹50 lakh dowry, but settled on ₹25 lakh after negotiation. However, later the accused family asked the woman to get ₹50 lakh from her family as her husband wanted to buy franchise of a popular fast food chain.

She further alleged the woman was suffering from depression and was undergoing treatment . She had told her parents and elder sister about the torture and harassment she was undergoing at the hands of her husband and in-laws, the complaint states.

The complainant alleged that her daughter’s husband would often assault her daughter. “He also assaulted her when she was pregnant, leading to her miscarriage,” she alleged.

A day before she died by suicide, she had shared some messages on the family group indicating she was under stress.

Shalini Sharma, senior inspector of Chembur police station, said, “Preliminary post-mortem report of the deceased woman revealed that she was Covid-19 positive. Initially an accidental death report (ADR) was registered, but after a suicide note was found and based on the complaint of the woman’s family, we have registered a case of dowry death and abetment of suicide against her husband and in-laws.”

The investigation officer said it was not yet certain how the woman had contracted the virus.

The final report, which is awaited, will reveal if there were any external or internal injury, Sharma said, adding no arrest has been made yet.

Advocate Shoaib Memon, representing the complainant, said, “We have not performed last rites on the body as we want a thorough investigation.”

The accused family was not available for comment.