A woman's body was found buried in a vacant plot, in Greater Noida after dogs were seen nibbling on it Friday. This is a fortnight after her brother approached the police fearing her death at the hands of her in-laws over dowry.
On March 15, the police lodged an FIR based on the brother’s complaint and were probing the case. However, as per a PTI report, a police official said the charge of “dowry death” does not stand in cases where marriages outlast seven years.
The body of 26-year-old, Sarita, was found buried in a shallow grave, a day after intense rains and thunderstorms in Sector 155, Noida. Some locals spotted dogs nibbling on what appeared to be a human body. When they saw a woman's cloth they alerted the Knowledge Park police station.
"When the locals went near, they saw a woman's cloth after which they alerted the local Knowledge Park police station," an official was quoted as saying.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Greater Noida) Ashok Kumar Singh said the police immediately reached the spot and the body was exhumed.
“The brother of the deceased had lodged an FIR on March 15 under IPC sections 365 (abduction), 498A (husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty) and relevant sections of the Dowry Prohibition Act against her husband and six relatives,” Singh told PTI.
A forensic team is also a part of the investigation team and the body has been sent for post-mortem examination to ascertain the cause of the death. Further legal proceedings are underway, he said.
“Raids are being conducted to arrest those named in the FIR,” the additional DCP said.
In the FIR filed by the brother Narender Bhati, a resident of Tusyana village, he stated that his sister Sarita was being tortured and harassed over additional dowry by her husband and in-laws.
Sarita got married in 2015. Bhati said his family spent Rs 10 lakhs and gave her husband Joginder a motorcycle, still, she was regularly taunted by her in-laws over dowry. He said he had approached the police in March 2021 also but the matter was mediated and brought to a compromise by elders of the community.
In his complaint, Bhati said since March 8, 2023, Sarita's phone was unreachable and when he inquired, her sister-in-law said she had “run away”.
"However, we are sure that my sister has been killed by her in-laws. Hence, I request the police to find her body and take necessary action against the suspects," the brother stated.
Although no arrest has been made so far and efforts are underway to nab the accused, the police have also added IPC Section 302 (murder) in the case.