Dowry cuffs on software engineer for wife’s death

Bhubaneswar: Khandagiri police, here, on Tuesday arrested a software engineer for allegedly killing his wife for dowry. The accused was identified as Prakash Khuntia (34), who got married to Prabhabati Nayak (30) on April 28.
Nayak, who was an MBA graduate, was found hanging from the ceiling fan of her room at her husband’s home in Sarakantara area on Sunday, on the eve of Sabitri Brata, which is observed by women wishing for a long life of their spouses. While Khuntia and his family claimed that Nayak committed suicide, her parents alleged she was murdered.
“My daughter’s husband and her in-laws had been torturing her for more dowry, including land, four-wheeler and gold ornaments. We had given them cash and costly household items before the marriage. When we expressed our inability to give more dowry, they killed her and tried to pass it off as a suicide,” the deceased’s father, Ramakanta Nayak, said.
Khuntia and his family refused to speak to the media. Police said the groom and bride had met each other on a matrimonial site.