GURGAON: A 25-year-old woman and her one-and-a-half-month-old son were allegedly strangled to death by her in-laws in Palwal’s Rajpura village over a demand for an SUV as dowry. Police said strangulation marks were found on Sagufta‘s neck.On the complaint of her father, Yakeen, a case has been registered at Sadar police station against 11 people, including her husband Sohil (27) and village head Sahib, on charges of murder and dowry death.Yakeen told police that Sagufta married Sohil in 2023. He alleged her in-laws began harassing her for dowry soon after the wedding and demanded a Scorpio. They regularly assaulted her and taunted her, saying Sohil had been cheated and would be remarried, he said. Sagufta later gave birth to two children, a daughter and a son.During the chhuchhak ceremony for the younger child, when maternal grandparents bring gifts for the newborn, Sagufta’s in-laws allegedly renewed their demand for the SUV and assaulted her. On Aug 15, her husband dropped her at her parental home in Salamba of Nuh, saying she could return only after Yakeen arranged an SUV.A village panchayat was later held in the presence of her in-laws’ relatives Jamshed, Akram and Rashid. Yakeen alleged he had to give an air conditioner and Rs 50,000 before sending Sagufta back to her marital home on Aug 17.The next day, Sagufta called her family and said her husband and in-laws were beating her again. She also alleged that the village head had incited the family to kill her and her infant son, promising to cover up the crime.Her family believed these were empty threats and did not intervene immediately. On Thursday, they were informed that Sagufta and her one-and-a-half-month-old son, Juhan, had been killed. Upon reaching the spot, they noticed strangulation marks on both bodies. Sagufta’s mother alleged that jewellery had been removed from her body before death.Police said the circumstances raised suspicion of murder. Based on the complaint, Sohil, his mother Afsana, father Yaqeem, brother Arbaaz, sister Zia, Rafeeq, Waseem, Sahib, and relatives Jamshed, Akram and Rashid of Rithoda were named in the FIR.“The case appears to be murder, but the exact cause of death will be confirmed after the postmortem examination. The woman’s husband has been taken into custody for questioning. Further action will be decided based on the autopsy findings,” said a police officer.Sagufta’s family has demanded immediate arrest of the accused and a video of the medical examination of the bodies. They have also sought inclusion of a woman doctor on the board conducting the autopsy.Police have invoked BNS sections related to murder, criminal conspiracy, dowry death, cruelty by husband or his relatives, voluntarily causing hurt, unlawful assembly and rioting.
