The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Dowry death alleged, police criticised

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 05, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Dowry death alleged, police criticised

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, MAY 4. Whether it was a suicide or not, the death of Mamta Kumari (24) here on April 19 was a case of dowry harassment, the People's Movement for Human Rights (PMHR), Bangalore, has alleged.

Mamta's father, Raj Purohit Mangalram Sodha (55), a resident of Modran village in Jalore district, Rajasthan, has registered a complaint with the police here that she was allegedly being harassed for dowry, ever since her marriage to Jogh Singh in May 1997. Singh's family had demanded Rs. 5 lakh and Mr. Sodha was trying to pay it in smaller amounts, according to the latter.

"Though I went to the High Grounds police station on April 20, they did not take my complaint on the excuse that everyone was busy with election duty,'' according to Mr. Sodha, who rushed to Bangalore on hearing about Mamta's death.

The report of the post-mortem examination conducted on April 22 says that the young woman had ligature marks around the neck. The cause of death, according to the doctor attached to Bowring Hospital, who conducted the autopsy is, "asphyxia as a result of hanging.''

The woman's father and brothers, who suspect it was a case of dowry death, have, in statements made to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central), Bangalore, said that Mamta was subject to abuse and ill-treatment by her husband and in-laws also because she was childless.

The father fears that Jog Singh and his family might have already escaped to Rajasthan with the Bangalore police having "made no efforts" to detain them. Mr. Sodha said his daughter did not commit suicide. A fortnight before her death she had telephoned home and complained of being threatened and harassed, he added.

According to Geeta Priyadarshini, legal advisor to the PMHR, the High Grounds police registered a First Information Report only on May 3, with charges of complaints under the Indian Penal Code and Dowry Prohibition Act. Jogh Singh, his parents, brother, and sister-in-law have been named as the accused.

"Only a thorough investigation by the Corps of Detectives can reveal the truth; otherwise Mamta will end up one more statistic and a forgotten victim of the dowry menace,'' Ms. Priyadarshini said.

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