It is shocking that even in the 21st century, and after 56 years since the practice of dowry has been prohibited, families in the capital of the country are being harassed over such issues.
Parvinder Kaur was set to fire by her in-laws and her husband on the morning of 18th August in Vikaspuri as she and her family failed to give Rs 10 lakh to her husband's family.
She had been thrown out of the house by her in-laws a fortnight back along with her four year old son due to the same reason. While leaving the house she only had a few essential items and hence had gone to her husband's house on Friday to collect a few important documents and her son's clothes.
The victim's family told the cops that everything was fine until her son was born. After that, her husband's family started demanding money from them. And though they usually met their demands, but whenever Kaur's family failed to provide the sum demanded, the woman would face abuse and harassment at the hands of Gurcharan's family. (www.timesofindia.com)
The brother of the victim, Jasmeet Singh alleged that family recently demanded a sum of Rs 10 lakh. He also said that when his family expressed their helplessness in handing over the amount, Kaur and her son were thrown out from the house. A complaint in the Vikaspuri station was also filed by Parvinder against this.(www.hindustantimes.com)
In her dying declaration Parvinder Kaur named her husband Gurcharan Singh and in laws before the magistrate.
However as the investigations followed, Kaur's husband and in-laws denied all allegations of dowry harassment. According to a police officer, the in laws claimed that the couple had trust issues which led to frequent quarrels between them that ended up in her killing. (www.hindustantimes.com)
The sequence of events
The incident came to light when the victim's cries for help were heard in the neighbourhood. Soon, the news spread and Parvinder's father and two brothers rushed to the house to rescue her. (www.asianage.com)
When they tried to save her, Parvinder's in-laws allegedly charged an attack on them. The three sustained some injuries. However, they managed to inform the jurisdictional police. A team rushed to the spot and moved Parvinder to Safdarjung Hospital where on Saturday, she succumbed to her burns after describing to the police what had happened with her.(www.asianage.com)
The cops, as Vijay Kumar, DCP (west) described had found Parvinder Kaur down with burn injuries next to some charred items of clothing, a broken fan and three buckets. There was a strong smell of kerosene in the air and a broken match box and two burnt match sticks were also found at the residence.
Kumar said that in her statement, the victim alleged that she was set on fire by her husband and in-laws over dowry demands. A case under the Indian Penal code Section 388 has been filed. (www.timesofindia.com)
The husband, father in-law and the brother in law have all been arrested.