NEW DELHI, June 14: A woman, married for 10 years and mother of two young children, has died after allegedly being brutally thrashed and tortured by her husband and in-laws by pressing a hot iron all over her body, including her genitals, in Aligarh district in Uttar Pradesh.
While the woman’s family has claimed she was tortured regularly by her husband and in-laws because their additional dowry demands of a Bullet motorcycle and a buffalo had not been met, the police have registered a case of murder and not dowry death.
Officials said Sangeeta, 32, had been married to Bunty Kumar, a resident of Banupura village in Aligarh district, for the past 10 years and the couple had two young boys. In her complaint, Sangeeta’s mother said everything was okay for about a year into the marriage and then Bunty and his family began demanding a Bullet motorcycle and a buffalo as additional dowry.
Bunty, she said, used to beat her regularly and ask her to get the additional items from her family, threatening he would kill her if she did not. Officials said on Tuesday, Bunty, his parents and his two sisters began thrashing Sangeeta and tortured her by pressing a hot iron on her body. A video shows burn marks on several parts of the body, including near the genitals. Sangeeta died on the spot.
“After we were informed, teams took custody of the body and sent it for a post-mortem. Since the post-mortem was not conclusive, the viscera has been preserved,” said Circle Officer (Chharra) Dhananjay Singh. Officials said a first information report (FIR) has been registered and a search is on for the five people from Bunty’s family who allegedly tortured her to death. The family has locked the house and has been missing since the woman was killed.
The viscera, they said, will be sent for further examination to find out the cause of death.
(Manas Dasgupta)
