Odisha: Woman allegedly killed by in-laws as they received dowry in demonetised notes

The victim, identified as Prabhasini was married to one Laxmi Nahak. Her parents had given Rs 1.70 lakh as dowry amount in old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000.

Berhampur, Nov 28: A woman in Odisha has allegedly been killed by her in-laws as they received dowry in demonetised notes, reported Odisha TV. The incident is of Rangipur village, in Ganjam district. The victim, identified as Prabhasini was newly-wedded. She got married to Laxmi Nahak. Prabhasini’s parents reportedly paid dowry of Rs 1.70 lakhs. The dowry amount was paid in old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000. Since the notes had lost legal tender, Prabhasini’s in-laws pressurised her parents to get it returned as early as possible.

Prabhisini’s kin agreed to get the dowry notes replaced as early as possible. They sought time from Prabhasini’s in-laws to exchange the cash as per the norms laid down by Reserve Bank of India (RBI). However, Prabhasini was allegedly subjected to brutal torture for not paying the dowry amount in legal tender. According to Prabhasini’s mother, they had agreed to pay the dowry in new notes in a short while. “In fact we were about to give them the money within 2-3 days. But before that they killed our daughter,” she was quoted as saying by Odisha TV.

Police investigation is currently underway. The family of Laxmi Nahak have denied torturing Prabhasini. According to Laxmi’s sister Jhili Nahak, Prabhasini committed suicide for reasons best known to her. She claims that they did not create a time-limit for replacement of dowry amount and did not subject the deceased to any sort of torture.

Golanthara police is looking into other angles in the case as well. Upon initial probe, it was found that Laxmi got married to one Santoshi Pradhan a few days back. Police is tracing the link between the former marriage of Laxmi with the death of his current wife Prabhasini.