Anguished over dowry demands of their in-laws, three women committed suicide in the capital in three separate incidents since Saturday evening, police said Sunday.
A 27-year-old woman, who got fed up of regular harassment by her in-laws over petty issues, jumped to death from her fourth floor flat in east Delhi’s Vivek Vihar Sunday, said police.
Mamta Singh, a resident of Triveni Apartment, jumped out around 11 a.m. just after a heated argument with her mother-in-law.
“The mother of two kids, Mamta married nine years ago. She was being harassed by her in-laws and her husband Kishan Singh for dowry,” said police on the basis of preliminary inquiry.
Mamta’s brother Mukesh Singh registered a case alleging that his sister was forced to jump by her in-laws and that she did not commit suicide. “Her mother-in-law was regularly demanding dowry from us,” Mukesh told police.
However, the victim’s in-laws refuted the allegations.
A police officer said that during the probe, it came to light that there was a heated argument between the victim and her mother-in-law before she jumped.
“We are questioning her in-laws and trying to know the exact reason behind her extreme step as police could not recover any suicide note from the spot. An abetment to suicide case will be registered against the accused and necessary action will be taken if we find that she was forced to commit suicide,” said a police officer.
In the second incident, Divya, 28, a government school teacher, was found dead in mysterious circumstances at her Dwarka sector-6 residence in west Delhi Saturday evening.
Divya taught at a school in west Delhi’s Janakpuri and her husband Devender, whom she had married one and a half year ago, also works as a teacher in another government school.
“Her family members are alleging that she was killed by her in-laws as they could not fulfil their dowry demand. They alleged that she was being tortured for more gifts just 15 days after her marriage,” said police.
The victim’s cousin, Vijay told IANS that Divya’s in-laws used to beat her for dowry.
However, her in-laws denied dowry claims and said that she hanged herself.
Police said that an inquiry by the sub-divisional magistrate has been initiated.
“It is yet to ascertain whether she had committed suicide or killed as no suicide note was recovered from the spot. Her in-laws said that they found her body hanging. When police reached at the spot, her body had been lowered down by her in-laws. Her post-mortem report is awaited,” said the officer.
In the third incident, a 28-year-old woman committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan at her residence in Shahdara area of east Delhi after a heated argument with her husband and mother-in-law, said police adding that her family members alleged that her in-laws killed her over dowry.
After investigation, the victim’s husband, Nitin Sharma, and mother-in-law, Shalini Sharma, were arrested for abetting her to commit suicide.
“Upset over her husband and in-laws’ abusive treatment, Nitu Sharma hanged herself Saturday night,” said a police officer.