In a shocking case of dowry harassment, a 26 year old woman was allegedly tortured and set on fire by her husband and in-laws after they demanded “ `36 lakh” from her family, after eight years of
marriage in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. A woman on fire was seen limping down a flight of stairs in a haunting video captured hours before she died on her way to a hospital in Delhi on Thursday.
Her young son witnessed the horror when she was tortured and set on fire by his father and his grandmother.
The woman, identified as Nikki, was killed for dowry, nine years after she married Vipin Bhati - a resident of Greater Noida’s Sirsa. Nikki married Vipin in 2016 and the couple has a son. Based on Kanchan’s complaint, a case was registered against Nikki’s husband, Bhati, and his family at Kasna Police Station. Kanchan initially took Nikki to Noida’s Fortis Hospital; she was referred to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi. Police said she died on her way to Safdarjung Hospital on August 21.
Two disturbing videos of the incident are circulating online. One shows Nikki being assaulted and dragged by her hair, while another captures her limping down the stairs after being set ablaze. The clips, reportedly recorded by Kanchan. Perhaps the most chilling detail is that Nikki’s six-year-old son saw his mother being set on fire. In his statement, the boy recounted: “Meri mumma ke upar kuch dala, fir unko chanta mara fir lighter se aag laga di” (they poured something on my mother, slapped her and set her ablaze with a lighter). The child’s testimony adds a harrowing dimension to the brutality of the crime.
Earlier on Sunday, Vipin was being escorted for a routine medical check around 1.30 pm when he tried to flee, according to the Gautam Buddh Nagar Police PRO. “He was chased and apprehended after being shot in the leg,” the officer said. His mother, Dayavati (55), was arrested by the Kasna police team from near a private hospital, the PRO said. Vipin’s father Satyaveer Bhati and brother Rohit Bhati are on the run
According to Nikki’s father Bhikari Singh Payla, a Scorpio SUV, a Royal Enfield bike, cash and gold -- Nikki’s family had gifted all they could to her husband, Vipin, during the couple’s wedding in 2016. But all of this could not satiate the Vipin’s greed and they asked for more dowry. And when Nikki could not arrange for Rs 36 lakh as demanded, she was brutally assaulted and set on fire, allegedly by her husband and mother-in-law Dayavati.
Additional DCP Sudhir Kumar said the woman, Nikki, was admitted to Fortis Hospital with severe burns on Aug 21 evening before being shifted to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital, but died on the way. A murder case was registered against Vipin, his brother Rohit, and their parents, Daya and Satveer, under BNS sections 103(1) (murder), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy). Cops said dowry harassment charges under BNS Section 80 have not been added to the FIR yet.”The other accused are absconding, and multiple teams have been deployed to arrest them,” Additional DCP Kumar said.
Nikki and her sister, Kanchan, married brothers Vipin and Rohit, respectively, on December 10, 2016. “Our father gifted a top-model Scorpio SUV, a Bullet (Royal Enfield) bike, cash, gold, everything. Besides this, gifts would be sent from our home on Karwa Chauth. Our parents did all they could, but the in-laws were not happy. They kept criticising. They would say the clothes gifted by my parents cost Rs 2,” a shaken Kanchan, who saw her sister in flames, She said Vipin and Mohit would often stay out till late and not receive their wives’ calls. “If we asked them where they were, they would create a scene. They would spend time with other women, and when we confronted them, they would hit us. Our nights were spent crying. Nothing is left now, my sister is gone. She was about two-three years younger than me, but people thought we were twins,” Kanchan said.
She said the sisters ran a make-up studio, but the in-laws didn’t like this. “They would take all our earnings. We were beaten up over this. If I had not shot this video, nobody would know how my sister died. I poured water, tried to save her, but fainted midway,” she said.
According to the FIR based on Kanchan’s complaint, Nikki was assaulted by her husband and mother-in-law, Daya, on Thursday evening. When Kanchan intervened, she was thrashed too. Vipin allegedly poured a flammable substance on Nikki and set her on fire.
Apart from demanding that all the accused be killed in an encounter, Nikki’s father, has also said that their house should be razed as a punishment for the crime. “They are killers, they should be shot, their home razed. My daughter was bringing up her son by running a parlour. They tortured her. The whole family was involved in the conspiracy, and they killed my daughter,” Payla said.b Nikki’s father said that she would not discuss much about her life with her in-laws and tried her best to make the marriage work.”She did not want me to worry, so she tried her best to make the marriage work. But they are killers,” he said.
Payla urged Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath Government to take action against the accused and kill them. “They shoot pickpockets in the leg, and they won’t kill these murderers? This is a BJP Government,” he said.