NOIDA: A
UP Police constable and his mother have been booked in a dowry harassment case after his wife died at a private hospital in Jewar on Tuesday. Her family alleged that she had been poisoned.
The constable, Dharmendra Attri, is posted in Lucknow. He married Anjali Kaushik (20) in September 2017. Anjali’s family has alleged the wedding took place without their knowledge and Anjali’s in-laws soon began pressuring her for Rs 3 lakh dowry.
Anjali’s father said he received a call on Monday from a neighbour of Anjali’s at Tappal in Aligarh — where Dharmendra’s family is based — that her condition was serious.
“We got a call around 10am that my daughter is admitted to Kailash hospital in Jewar,” said Rajkumar Sharma, who is based in Meerut. “When we reached, we were told my daughter had died before she was brought to the hospital,” he added.
Alleging Anjali was poisoned, Rajkumar said she had been beaten up by Dharmendra at least on two occasions. “I had tried to take my daughter out of Aligarh but she refused,” he said.
Anjali’s brother Ramakant alleged she was not allowed to speak to her parents. Kapil, Anjali’s cousin, said Anjali had given birth to a boy around seven months ago and the dowry demands had increased after that. “We arranged for Rs 1 lakh and gave her gifts. From around one and a half months, we couldn’t speak to her at all. She was being pressured for money and a plot. She was very upset,” he said.
An FIR has been lodged against Dharmendra and Kiran Devi under sections 498A (cruelty by husband or his relative) and other sections of the IPC and sections of the Dowry Prohibition Act.
SP (rural) Aligarh Manilal Patidar told TOI the allegations of the family would be probed. “It was a love marriage, and a lot of facts need to be taken into account,” he said. The autopsy report is awaited.