In an outrageous incident late on Sunday night in Ranchi, a man killed his wife by strangulating her with a string for not delivering a male child at Jamun Toli under Sadar Police Station. The couple, already having two daughters of seven years and eight months each, had a love marriage eight years back. Husband Dilip Nayak 28, a truck driver by profession, has been arrested by the police.
“The case was reported to us and it was found that the murder was committed by the husband, who has already been arrested,” said City SP Jaya Roy. The body of Soni Devi 20 has also been sent for the postmortem, she said.
Family members of deceased Soni Devi said that the murder was committed for want of male child.
“My son in law killed my daughter at around 11 pm on Sunday night. He also used to beat her up regularly for not delivering a male child,” said Munni Devi mother of the deceased in her statement recorded with the police.
Munni Devi further alleged that her son in law used to beat her daughter up regularly for a male child. The scene was being witnessed by everyone in the locality. “He used to beat her by saying that he wanted a male child from her,” she said. The two daughters have also asserted that the couple had an argument that night followed by a fight,” she said.
“last night at 12 pm Nayak came to us saying that my daughter was no more and when we went to see her, we found that she was lying on the bed and there was a mark of strangulation on her neck,” said Munni Devi. The two families stay nearby in the same locality, she added.
The police however, refused to comment on it saying that the matter was still under investigation. “Definitely, the lady has been murdered and we are trying out under what circumstances the murder was committed,” said Officer in Charge of Sadar Police Station.
Condemning the incident Chairperson of Jharkhand State Commission for Women Mahua Maji demanded stringent punishment against the husband. “It is a heinous crime for which the accused person must be given rigorous punishment,” said Maji. Already the number of females in the state is going down hence people of such mentality must be checked by giving severe punishments so that no one dares to take such step in future, added Maji.