Bihar dowry death: No FIR even after 2 weeks, Maneka Gandhi assures swift action
A 30-year-old was allegedly set on fire by her in-laws at their house in Buxar, Bihar, at midnight on March 7. She died on March 11, but police still haven't registered an FIR.
In Short
- Rani died of cardio-respiratory failure on March 11.
- Her brother said police turned him away 4 times when he went to file a complaint.
- Maneka Gandhi promised swift action.
Krishna Kumar regrets not going to the police the first time his sister Rani told him about being beaten within 10 days of getting married in 2007.
Ten years later, the 30-year-old was allegedly set on fire by her in-laws at their house in Buxar, Bihar, at midnight on March 7.
She was hospitalized with over 90 per cent burn injuries all over her body, leaving just the back of her head unscathed. She died of cardio-respiratory failure on March 11 after battling for three days.
But even a fortnight after her death, police has refused to lodge an FIR in the case. Kumar alleged that he has gone to the police at Sonipatti, Buxar, four times but was turned away each time as cops demanded a statement from the magistrate and medical reports before registering his complaint.
THIS IS A SERIOUS MATTER, IMMEDIATE ACTION WILL BE TAKEN: MANEKA GANDHI
He finally tweeted to women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi about the case.
Taking swift notice, she replied to his tweet on Friday morning, "Extremely sorry to hear about your loss, dear @Krishna60274940. Please DM me your contact number."
Talking to Mail Today, a ministry official said, "This is a serious matter and immediate action will be taken by the ministry."
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Speaking to Mail Today over the phone, Krishna said he learnt about his sister's injuries on receiving a call from his eldest sister, who also lives in Buxar.
The victim's father said that the family members of Rani claimed that she caught fire from the stove while working in the kitchen. The in-laws were not available for comments.
Kumar said that Rani's in-laws used to harass her and demanded the fridge despite having one and kept it locked to pressurise her.
"Rani's mother-in-law said that she will only open the first fridge after she will get the second fridge from our family," Krishna told Mail Today.
He added that Rani often complained to her parents about how her two daughters and a three-year-old son were denied milk because of the fight over the fridge in the house.
"We knew about the abuse she endured for years as she told us repeatedly but we could not say a word inas we feared what villagers would say. Besides, we did not have money to buy them a fridge," he said.
After the police officials turned him away on March 20, Krishna Kumar took to Twitter to contact Bihar chief minister, Uttar Pradesh's newly elected CM Yogi Adityanath, Sushil Modi and Lalu Prasad Yadav in a series of tweets and sought help but did not get any response.
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