A Janata Dal (United) leader was charged with killing his daughter-in-law in Muzaffarpur district, just a day after Bihar chief minister, Nitish Kumar has launched a campaign against dowry. A FIR has been registered against JD(U) organisational secretary Arun Kumar Kushwaha on Tuesday.
The political leader’s son and two others had also been accused in the case registered with Karja police station. The SHO, Ram Balak Yadav said, Kumari’s father, Mahesh Bhagat alleged that his daughter was murdered by Kushwaha and his family for dowry. The officer said the accused were on run and raids were being conducted to nab them.
In his complaint, Bhagat said, “We had given cash, jewellery and other gift items at the time of my daughter’s marriage, but her in-laws were demanding a four-wheeler. When I expressed my inability, they started torturing my daughter to put pressure on me.”
“They had threatened me on many occasions of dire consequences if we failed to meet their demand. Finally, they killed my daughter on October 1. They neither informed me nor any of my relatives before performing her last rites. It is clear that they wanted to destroy the evidences,” Bhagat told HT on phone.
Kumari wedded Dipak in 2015. They had an 11-month-old child, said Bhagat. Kushwaha, however, refuted allegations. “My daughter-in-law was observing fast during Navratra. On October 1, she complained of stomach pain. We were taking her to a doctor in the town but she died on way. We later performed the last rites after informing her father.”