New Delhi: A five-month pregnant woman was shot dead in broad daylight on Sunday in Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan, allegedly by the brother-in-law, her husband’s family claimed. Loud gunshots were heard in the entire area at around 9:40 AM but by the time any witness reached the crime scene, the miscreant had fled the scene. The deceased, identified as Pallavi Chhabra, was recently married in May last year to Anshul Chhabra in Ravidas Nagar of Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan.
According to the police, the incident was reported at around 11 AM by family members. The father of the deceased, Hemraj Midha, had lodged his complaint at Ward Number 26 Anoopgarh first, but because it was a female-oriented crime, it was later registered at the Women’s police station nearby.
As soon as the police received the information, they reached the location and conducted a thorough inspection. The police said that before they arrived at the crime scene, the family members of the victim had taken her to the district hospital to conduct a post mortem. Later, the police took into custody the mother-in-law, the younger brother-in-law, while the husband of the deceased had already been arrested two or three days earlier in an unrelated incident.
According to the police report, the victim’s father said that the mother-in-law was forcing her to have sexual relations with her brother-in-law. He further said that harassment started sometime after the wedding when the in-laws started blaming the victim for the death of her father-in-law. They started raising demand for dowry and started torturing her physically, especially when she refused to engage in a sexual relationship with her brothers-in-law.
Despite her being five-months pregnant, she was beaten up daily.
According to the victim’s parents, her death was premeditated by her in-laws and a neighbour. The previous night, she had allegedly told her parents that she was being held captive by her husband’s family. The next morning she was shot dead.
An investigation is underway.