india

Updated: Nov 04, 2019 05:42 IST

The widower and the father-in-law of a 23-year-old woman have been arrested in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa after she died allegedly of starvation and torture for giving birth to two girls, police said.

Jagmohan Sahu, the father of the woman, Radha Sahu, lodged a police complaint against her widower, Sanjeev Sahu, and father-in-law, Ramrasele Sahu, both farmers, citing medical reports that suggested starvation as the cause of her death on October 30.

Block medical officer Pankaj Singh Gaharwar said that the woman suffered from multiple infections due to starvation. “Her haemoglobin was found below 5 grams per deciliter [against the normal range of 12 to 15.5 grams per deciliter]. Similarly, her organs were also in a bad shape due to starvation,” said Gaharwar, after seeing her medical reports. A post mortem is awaited.

Rewa’s police superintendent Abid Khan said that a First Information Report has been registered against the woman’s husband and father-in-law under the Dowry Prohibition Act and for harassment and cruelty under Indian Penal Code’s sections 498A and 304 b that provide for imprisonment up to seven years.

He said that the two have been arrested and they were investigating the matter and more sections will be added to the FIR on the basis of the probe.

(With inputs from Harendra Pratap Singh in Rewa)