The tryst with racial discrimination, domestic violence over dowry seemed to have ended another love story in a brutal manner. The Mulund police arrested a man and his family with charges including abetment to suicide of a 22-year-old woman. The couple were barely married for a month and were reportedly in a relationship for the last seven to eight years. whom he married recently.
The deceased identified as Aarti Mohite had married 24-year-old Prashant Kapade on August 1. Aarti and Prashant lived in Vishwa Sahakar Society in Mulund East after their marriage.
According to reports in the news portal Mid-day, Aarti’s parents alleged that she committed suicide due to the insults she faced for belonging to a lower caste. Aarti’s father Jagdish Mohite said, “Aarti was in love. I was a bit hesitant, as Prashant was working as a contractual worker with the BMC. But due to her insistence, I agreed to the marriage. However, within a couple of days, her in-laws started torturing her. They also asked her to bring dowry and beat her when she refused.”
The incident of suicide took place on the evening of August 19. Aarti hanged herself from the ceiling fan when she was alone at home. Dilip and Chanda Kapade, her in-laws, discovered the body upon their return. “After the wedding, she faced humiliation on a daily basis, because she belonged to a lower caste. Her friends told us that she attempted to take her life thrice in the past,” said a relative.
Her parents filed a complaint with the Mulund Police after learning about her death. An FIR was registered by the cops under IPC sections 304 B (dowry death), 498 A (husband or relative subjecting women of cruelty), 306 (abetment of suicide), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (breach of peace), 34 (common intention). “Primary investigations have revealed that the husband and in-laws were torturing Aarti,” said an officer with the Mulund police station.
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