UP man held for allegedly chopping wife’s body parts and burning them over dowry
The man and his mother were arrested after the victim’s father filed a police complaint of dowry and harassment.
lucknow Updated: Jan 13, 2018 19:41 IST
A man was arrested in Badaun district in Uttar Pradesh on Friday for allegedly strangling his wife, chopping her body parts and burning them over dowry, the police said on Saturday.
According to the police complaint, filed by the woman’s father, Dharmendra Kumar, 30, was with his mother when he allegedly killed Kirti Singh, 22. The police said he buried some pieces outside the village in Usehat and burnt some inside his house. On December 11, he and his mother left the house sneakily.
The police said Dharmendra’s neighbours informed the victim’s father, Mahendra Singh, about the missing family. Singh first tried to trace them, but later, on December 19, he lodged a police complaint.
On January 12, the police arrested Dharmendra and his mother near a temple in Usehat.
“The accused killed his wife Kirti Singh, 22, on December 10, 2017. He has accepted his crime,” said senior superintendent of police (Badaun), Chandra Parakash. “We have also recovered some burnt remains from his house in Usehat village and sent them for DNA analysis,” Parakash added.
While Dharmendra was charged with dowry death (Section 304B), his mother was detained for questioning. No charges have been pressed against her. He was sent to judicial custody on Saturday.
Dharmendra said he had killed Kirti for dowry and on the suspicion that she had committed adultery, the police said.
The victim’s father had also complained to the police about dowry harassment. “Dharmendra and Kirti got married in June 2016. He harassed her for dowry and killed her because we failed to arrange it,” Singh told HT on Saturday.
The couple have a six-month-old daughter who is with a relative in Uttarakhand, according to Dharmendra. “A team is out to find her,” said a police officer.