Sagarpur dowry victim gets some justice after a week

NEW DELHI: The day chief minister Arvind Kejriwal began his dharna outside Rail Bhavan, demanding that some policemen, including one dealing with an alleged dowry burning case in Sagarpur, be suspended, the victim, Neha, would have celebrated her 29th birthday. However, she was fighting for her life at Safdarjung Hospital with 45% burns.

Within 24 hours of the CM voicing his demand, Neha's mother-in-law, Sumitra, sister-in-law Reena and brother-in-law Rajbir were arrested from their hideout in Dwarka. The father-in-law, Abhay, is already in custody.

The crime took place eight days ago in Sagarpur's Indra Park in west Delhi. She would have been just another victim of dowry and domestic violence in police records had Delhi's women and child development minister, Rakhi Birla, not got involved. Neha's father, Virender Yadav, was at the protest site since Monday, asking for suspension of the Sagarpur SHO.

Neha has burns mainly on her neck, chest and waist. This wasn't the first time that this 29-year-old was tortured and physically abused, alleges her family. Her six-year-old son, Rohit, was present when she was set on fire. "Sometimes, he recalls the incident and gets scared," says her younger brother, Kuldeep Yadav. Rohit has stopped going to school for now.

Neighbours had more horrifying tales of abuse. Owning four houses in the same lane of the unauthorized colony, Abhay and Sumitra have two sons, Rajbir and Sonu. Both were handling two shops selling electronic goods. Neha's in-laws lived in one house, while Rajbir and his wife lived above the shops in another house. Sonu and Neha were in the third house and the fourth one was given out on rent. Police constables having tea at their shops was a regular sight.

The first-warning signal was "when they demanded a car and Rs 1.11 lakh as dowry," said Kuldeep, "but demanding dowry is common." However, demands for more money didn't stop and, after Neha had her first kid, a daughter, who is now nine years old, the family alleges that it was asked to give Rs 2 lakh. "Since she had a daughter, we had to pander to their needs," said Kuldeep, an MBA student.

In November 2008, Neha was beaten up so badly that she was rushed to hospital. By that time, she was a mother of two kids- a daughter and son. Still, she didn't go back to her parents' home in Samalkha Village, Kapashera. "She neither returned, nor left her husband as she was a mother and wanted to fight for the rights of her children," said Sudhir Yadav, Neha's elder brother.

By 2010, Sonu had gone to Dubai to work, leaving his family behind. He wasn't present on the day of the incident and the FIR doesn't mention him. "He wasn't sending any money and the in-laws were not helping her financially. So, Neha started her own boutique, but it was her parents who paid the school fee of her kids," said Madhu, her neighbour.

The neighbours said that after 11 years of marriage, Neha would still come out with a ghoonghat covering her face. "When was set on fire, the red stole covering her head began burning and got stuck to her skin." But the incident didn't shock the hardened neighbourhood. Such things happen in Sagarpur. Three days back, a woman, around 30 years old, was found dead with her throat slit, cops told TOI.

After Sonu left, four cameras were installed outside her house to keep a watch on her, the family alleges. Last month, the iron gate of her house was brought down. "We approached the cops after the gate was removed but they didn't register our complaint," said Sudhir. "In fact, the beat constable was present when the gate was removed. The cameras had been switched off when the incident took place."

Neha's parents approached an NGO in Dwarka, who turned to Rakhi Birla on January 10. "Rakhi spoke to my sister over the phone and assured us that help would be provided. But her sister-in law got to know about it. And three days later on January 13, everyone knows what happened," he said.

The Sagarpur cops arrested Abhay Yadav the night of the incident while the rest were arrested only on Tuesday, after a lot of pressure. "The four accused have been arrested under IPC 307/34 (attempt to murder with common intention)," said a senior police officer. Since the in-laws are behind bars, they couldn't be reached for their version.

source - TOI