india

Updated: Feb 25, 2020 15:41 IST

A newly married woman was allegedly strangled to death in the Kaliachak area of Bengal’s Malda district on Monday night because her family failed to pay Rs 2 lakh as dowry to her husband who works as a mason in Mumbai.

The accused family allegedly hung the body from the ceiling to make it look like suicide.

Acting to a written complaint filed by the family of the 22-year-old victim Jahanara Bibi, police on Tuesday detained her mother-in-law. The victim’s husband, Ezad Sheikh, is on the run said, Malda superintendent of police Alok Rajoria. “The mother-in-law of the deceased has been detained for questioning. The body has been sent for post mortem examination,” he added.

The victim married Ezad Sheikh about eight months ago, after a long affair.

Sabeda Bewa, Jahanara’s mother, said, “Although it was a love marriage, I had to give jewellery and Rs 40,000 in cash as dowry.”

“My son-in-law went to Mumbai after the marriage and started pressuring Jahanara to get Rs 2 lakh more from us. It was impossible for us to raise such an amount but Ezad would not listen. His mother used to torture Jahanara. I heard that Ezad wanted to start a new business. He returned home two days ago and started torturing my daughter,” said Sabeda Bewa.

“On Monday night Ezad and his mother strangled my daughter and hung her by the neck from the ceiling to make it look like suicide. Police rushed to Ezad’s home and took Jahanara to Malda Medical College and Hospital where she was announced dead on arrival,” said Sabeda Bewa.

Last week, another homemaker from Malda district, Jyotsna Mondal, 33, was allegedly poisoned to death for dowry after 13 years of marriage.