Pregnant Woman Shot Dead For Dowry, Three Arrested: Report

On Tuesday, a 22-year-old pregnant woman was allegedly shot dead at her house in Dadri, in Uttar Pradesh for dowry. Police on Thursday arrested three people, including the husband of the deceased woman, while it is still hunting for nine others on run.

The arrested suspects were the deceased's husband Amir, her brother-in-law Aas Mohammad and father-in-law Iliyas, all three are residents of Dadri, according to the report in Hindustan Times. Initially, the woman's in-laws informed police that she had ended her life. But when a police team reached the spot, all the 12 family members had fled the house. According to Vishal Pandey, additional deputy commissioner of police(Greater Noida), the pregnant woman was found dead with a bullet wound in her abdomen.

Also Read: Growing Up In 70s & 80s, I Remember The Horror Of Dowry Deaths

The victim was a resident of Inder Nagar in Bulandshahr. According to her family members, she was was seven months pregnant. Her husband was a resident of Rithori village in Dadri. They were married in March 2019.

What You Should Know

• A 22-year-old pregnant woman was found in Dadri.
• Her husband along with his family allegedly killed her for dowry.
• A case was registered under various sections of the IPC and Dowry Prohibition Act.

“On Thursday, police received information about the movement of some suspects near Ajayebpur railway station. A team from Dadri police station reached the spot and arrested Amir, Iliyas, and Aas Mohammad. Police also recovered a countrymade gun and a live cartridge from their possession,” Pandey said.

The victim’s brother, Naimuddin, alleged that since the marriage in 2019, Amir and his family were demanding Rs five lakh as dowry. Naimuddin filed a case against Amir and many other family members.

A case has been registered under sections 302 (murder), 304 b ( dowry death), 498 (detaining a married woman with criminal intent), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code, and section three and four of the Dowry Prohibition Act against a total of 12 family members.

According to the police, the suspects haven't revealed the sequence of events. They have neither disclosed as to what triggered the murder. Said the police, “They were produced in a court and sent to judicial custody."

Dowry Cases In India

In a similar case, a 23-year-old woman in Pilibhit was allegedly killed by her husband and in-laws on Thursday, over dowry.  The woman's body was allegedly hanged in the verandah of her house. according to a TOI report, the woman's husband and his family members begun demanding cash worth Rs one lakh soon after the couple got married in April 2019, and allegedly begun torturing the victim.

Also Read: 20 Women Die A Day: Dowry Deaths Still A Threatening Reality In India?

A week ago, a 40-year-old software engineer was arrested on charges of killing his wife for in Greater Noida West. The couple had been married for six years and had two children. The victim's family accused him of dowry harassment, filing a police complaint against him.

Around 21 dowry deaths are reported across the country every day. According to the National Crime Records Bureau(NCRB), as many as 7,634 women died in the country due to dowry harassment in the year 2015.

Sanskriti Tiwari as an intern with SheThePeople.TV.