Kamal Ghorui
KANPUR: An alleged case of dowry-related cruelty by a railway-retired father-in-law against his daughter-in-law has come to light in Kanpur after a video of the woman’s screams and the assault went viral on social media. The woman was seen pleading for help, but people around were too scared to intervene. According to information, the victim, a woman from Prayagraj, was married in 2020 to Himanshu Dubey from the Anand Nagar area of Kanpur. Himanshu works as an IT manager at a shoe company, while his father, Sushil Dubey, retired from the post of clerk in the railway department. The victim alleged that her in-laws had been making heavy dowry demands since the time of her marriage, including 2 bigha of land and Rs 20 lakh in cash. Whenever she protested and refused to fulfil these demands, she alleged, she was subjected to beatings, abuse, and mental torture. She said her father-in-law Sushil Dubey, mother-in-law Rama, brother-in-law (jeth) Abhishek, and sister-in-law (jethani) Shruti collectively harassed her. A few days ago, the victim went to her maternal home. On Friday, at around 2 pm, she returned to her in-laws’ house with her brother Rishikesh Pandey and sister-in-law (bhabhi) Preeti Pandey. As soon as she knocked on the door and entered, she alleged, Sushil Dubey flew into a rage, hurled abuses, and attacked her without provocation. The victim stated that her father-in-law pinned her to the ground and brutally beat her with kicks and punches. She alleged that he then tore her clothes and attacked her private parts. When her sister-in-law and nearby neighbours tried to intervene, she said, the father-in-law threatened to kill them as well. She further alleged that he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her from inside the house onto the street. During the incident, the woman kept screaming, “Save me… they will kill me.” The victim said her five-year-old daughter was present in the house and witnessed the assault. She also alleged that her in-laws were conspiring to murder her and that she had been confined in the house. She said she sustained deep injuries on multiple parts of her body, but the family did not provide her with any medical treatment. The woman filed a complaint with the police, but initially no concrete action was taken. Upon learning of the incident, ACP Chakeri Abhishek Kumar Pandey took cognisance of the matter, got an FIR registered, and one accused was arrested. The ACP stated that a video of the incident had also gone viral. At first glance, the video clearly shows the father-in-law beating the daughter-in-law.
