A 30-year-old man, who was allegedly demanding dowry from his wife’s parents, allegedly barged into their Sadh Nagar residence in southwest Delhi and attacked them with an axe, the police said on Tuesday.
The victim, identified as Chanchal, 28, had got married to one Pawan Saini, a resident of Alipur in outer Delhi in June 2010. Within a month of their marriage, Pawan allegedly started demanding dowry from his wife. Initially, his wife tried to ignore his demands but when her mother-in-law asked her for dowry, she was worried.
“On December 27, Chanchal was dropped at her parent’s house in Sadh Nagar by Pawan on the pretext that he was going out of the city for two days. However, when he didn’t turn up, Chanchal called him on his phone but he didn’t answer. The victim then made a call after a week, which was answered by her mother-in-law, Omvati, who asked her to get `4 lakhs and a car for her son if she wanted to live with Pawan,” a senior police official said.
Chanchal then discussed the matter with her father Ravinder Saini, 60, who runs a cosmetic store outside his residence and they approached Palam police station with a complaint against Pawan on January 30. The police, however, told them to file the complaint at the Delhi police’s Crime Against Women (CAW) cell in sector 6, Dwarka. “A complaint was lodged at the CAW, Dwarka on February 1 following which the cops asked Pawan to come over to the police station for questioning where he had a heated argument with his wife and he threatened to kill her,” the official said.
After leaving the police station, Pawan went to his Alipur residence where he fetched an axe and rushed to his in-law’s residence in Palam at around 5.30 pm. “Pawan asked for his wife and when she came out of the house, he allegedly tried to attack her with the axe. When his father-in-law, Ravinder, and brother-in-law identified as Bittu, 28, tried to intervene, he attacked them, inflicting critical injuries. He was, however, overpowered by the duo and handed over to the police,” the official said. The injured duo were taken to Deen Dayal Upphadyay hospital where they were treated and discharged on February 2.
The family has, however, alleged that the police booked Pawan under lenient sections, “There are allegations and counter allegations. We are waiting for the medical examination report of Pawan and the father-son duo before initiating action against the guilty,” Sharad Aggarwal, DCP (south west), said.