A 24-year-old woman was set on fire allegedly by her husband and in-laws on Friday for not fulling their dowry demands. Three members from the in-laws’ family, including the husband, have been arrested.
Victim Parvinder Kaur was allegedly set ablaze on Friday when she went to her matrimonial home in west Delhi’s Vikaspuri. She was immediately rushed to Safdarjung Hospital where she succumbed to her injuries on Saturday.
In her statement to the police and magistrate in the hospital, Parvinder said that her husband Gurcharan Singh, her father-in-law Rawel Singh (62), brother-in-law Prabhjot Singh (25) and mother in-law were ready with kerosene and matchbox when she went to the house to pick up her four-year-old son’s clothes.
Mother-in-law missing
“Three of them (Gurcharan, Rawel, Prabhjot) have been arrested in connection with the case. The mother-in-law, however, is absconding. All the three were present in the house when the incident happened,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Vijay Kumar.
According to Parvinder’s brother Amandeep Singh, the in-laws would ask for dowry in cash every now and then, and the most recent demand for ₹10lakh. “We have been fulfilling their demands but when we refused this time, they got angry and ousted my sister from the house 15 days ago. She was living with us since then,” he alleged.
Love marriage
When the police reached the spot, they smelt kerosene and found burnt clothes, a broken matchbox, two match sticks, a pair of sandals, a broken fan, a bed sheet and three buckets.
“We had earlier registered a case under Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 34 (common intention). Now, Section 302 (punishment for murder) has also been added,” said Mr Kumar.
The family said that Parvinder and Gurcharan had a love marriage in 2012 and the relationship between the two was better in the first year. “Dowry demands increased after the son was born. The in-laws would abuse, beat and harass her. We intervened many times and mostly gave them what they asked for,” said Mr. Amandeep.