Mumbai, Oct 14 A 21-year-old man has been arrested for alleged abetment of his wife’s suicide after harassing her for dowry and opposing his purported extramarital affair, just seven months after their marriage, a Mumbai Police official said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Sheikh Tauhid Sheikh Wahid, is a resident of Shirgaon in Akola district. He was remanded to police custody by a local court, two days after he was arrested by Malvani Police.
The deceased had married Wahid after a love affair. She allegedly died by suicide at her family’s house in the Malvani area of Mumbai in September, a police official said.
The victim’s mother lodged a complaint with the police alleging that her son-in-law started assaulting her daughter after she discovered his relationship with another woman in August.
“The situation escalated in September when the woman called her family from Kandivali’s Shatabdi Hospital, complaining of brutal physical violence. Her sister requested a video call during which she witnessed the accused stripping and assaulting his wife,” the official said, quoting the FIR.
Following the incident, the victim’s mother and sister travelled to Akola and confronted Wahid.
“During the confrontation, the accused cited his wife’s alleged reluctance to perform household chores and constant suspicion as reasons for his inability to live with her.
“He also expressed frustration over not receiving a dowry of Rs 5 lakh to 10 lakh despite his wife belonging to an affluent family, before demanding that her relatives take her away permanently,” the police official said.
The woman was subsequently brought back to Mumbai and was undergoing treatment for her severe injuries.
“She was found hanging from a ceiling fan at her house in Malvani, Mumbai, where she was living with her mother and brother,” the official said.
She was rushed to Shatabdi Hospital, where doctors declared her dead on arrival.
Police registered a case of abetment of suicide and physical harassment against Wahid and are conducting further investigation, the official added.
(PTI News)
