india

Updated: Oct 09, 2017 15:24 IST

A man allegedly killed his wife and a minor daughter by setting them on fire in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district. Police said the suspected dowry killing took place at Bela Gopi village in Gaighat police station area of the district.

Madhuri Devi, 35, and her daughter Ananya, 6, died of burn injuries late on Sunday night at Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital, Muzaffarpur, 71 km north of Patna, the police added.

In her statement to the police before her death, Devi said her husband Gulab Singh had been harassing her for dowry since their marriage eight years ago and set her on fire when she refused bring from her father Rs 50, 000 demanded by him.

Officials of Ahiapur police station in Muzaffarpur town recorded her statement at SKMCH and registered a case against Gulab Singh, his father Laxmi Singh and mother under sections 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), 304B (dowry death) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.

The FIR had since been forwarded to Gaighat police station for further investigation, Ahiapur station house office (SHO) Vijay Kumar said.

All the accused were absconding, he added.

“Gulab Singh used to beat Devi frequently for dowry. On Saturday night, he came home under the influence of liquor, tied her to a wooden cot and set her on fire. When Ananya started crying he threw her into the fire,” Kumar said quoting Devi’s statement.

In the FIR, the Madhuri Devi’s mother Divya Devi accused Gulab Singh, his father and mother of killing her daughter and granddaughter. They had been misbehaving with Madhuri for dowry since her marriage nearly eight years ago, Divya Devi said.

Meanwhile, a police officer, on the condition of anonymity, said Gulab Singh was engaged in illegal liquor trade.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had last week launched an anti-dowry campaign in Patna and said Bihar ranked second in the country after neighbouring Uttar Pradesh when it came to cases related to the social evil.

Last year, 987 cases of dowry deaths were registered in Bihar, while cases of dowry-related atrocities were 4,852.