Ludhiana Woman Sets Herself On Fire, Husband Arrested For Dowry Death: Report

Ludhiana dowry death: A 34-year-old woman named Mandeep Kaur allegedly died by suicide due to dowry harassment in Punjab. Kaur succumbed to her burn injuries on Tuesday morning in Kakowal Majra village in Sahnewal, Ludhiana. The death case has been reported by the father of the deceased who has alleged torture and murder by her in-laws. She was reportedly harassed for dowry and set herself on fire at her house on Monday night. She was taken to a hospital but could not survive the injuries and passed away.

Kaur was married to a man named Balram Singh for two-and-a-half years. They have a one-and-a-half year old daughter. Her father, Surinderpal Singh, alleged that Singh and his relatives had started beating and harassing her for dowry right after the marriage. "They would often thrash her too. Several times, the matter was taken up with the panchayat, but every time it ended with a compromise,” Kaur's father told TOI. “Every time I asked her to come back, she used to say that things might improve in future,” he added.

Ludhiana dowry death: The Sahnewal police have registered a case against the husband and four members of his family. Balram Singh was arrested and produced before a court on July 7.

A night before the 34-year-old died, her father, who lives in Samrala, about 30 kilometres away from his daughter's house, had reportedly received a call from her husband who threatened him, saying if he didn't take his daughter back home, she would be killed. On Monday around 10.30pm, the woman's father received another call from Kaur’s father-in-law Chand Singh, telling him that his daughter had set herself on fire. “When I finally got to see her body, I was shocked to find that she had suffered wounds on her head and jaw, and there burn injuries all over her body,” said the father, Hindustan Times reported.

Kaur's father now regrets not being able to bring his daughter back home to safety. "Had I brought her back home on time, she would have been alive today,” he said.

Police have registered a case under sections 304-B (dowry death) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC against her husband Balram Singh, father-in-law Chand Singh, mother-in-law Rajwant Kaur, sister-in-law Rajwinder Kaur and Rajwinder’s husband Kulveer Singh. In-laws yet to be arrested.