‘Husband didn’t like her working, hit her’: Family of Delhi woman who ‘fell to death’
Two days after Akriti was found inside an apartment complex in Lodhi Colony, police arrested her husband on Monday after a dowry death case was registered.
Police apprehended Akriti's husband after a case of dowry death and cruelty was lodged against him. She was found dead in her apartment on 4 July 2026. (Special arrangement photo) When Akriti, 28, took up a job as a sales executive at a firm in Delhi’s Chattarpur in 2021, it marked both a career step and a responsibility she had to shoulder. Her father, Ashok Suttar, a civil contractor, had died from cancer, leaving behind Akriti, her mother Anu Suttar, and a younger brother who had just completed his B.Com degree from a Delhi college.
At 24, she became the family’s main support. She sent money home regularly, her family said. “She took the job without making a huge deal out of it… She was always happy…,” said Mananjay, her uncle. “She wanted to take care of her mother and for her brother to be set before she settled down.”
What followed after the wedding would upend the life she had built. There were fights over her job, which she eventually quit, alleged demands for dowry and physical abuse, claimed her family.
On July 1, they said Akriti decided to rejoin work.
On July 4, she was found dead inside Palika Kunj apartment complex in Lodhi Colony. Her husband Arastu Sikka has now been arrested in the case, said police.
“Prima facie, it is a case of suicide,” said a police officer. “It seems she jumped off the third floor.”
Her family, however, has rejected the possibility and has alleged harassment by her husband and in-laws. Arastu was arrested after a case was registered under sections 80 (dowry death) and 85 (cruelty) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Lodhi Colony police station.
Cracks since the start
In the days following her death, her family claimed there were signs of strain from the very beginning.
It was around 2023 that she reconnected with a former schoolmate. Through her, Akriti renewed contact with her brother, Arastu, whom she had also known from school. The three began spending time together, before the friend suggested that Akriti date her brother.
When Akriti had first told her mother about Arastu, she was a little wary of Arastu’s approach to career and his general behaviour. As per the FIR, Anu had ‘warned’ Akriti about marrying Arastu. But after Arastu reached a “reluctant understanding” over Akriti’s job, said Mananjay, the marriage went ahead.
Akriti and Arastu were in a relationship for three years before getting married on April 24.
“She quit the job after the marriage after a lot of fights with Arastu,” said Mananjay.
“Arastu had a problem that she sent Rs 5,000 to her mother and brother, and wanted her to leave the job. Despite knowing the financial condition of the family, he demanded Rs 10 lakh dowry and a car,” he alleged.
He did not have a stable job, the uncle claimed.
He ‘assaulted her’, alleged her family
According to the FIR, Anu said that just a month into the marriage, Arastu allegedly started beating her daughter. The initial arguments started because of Akriti’s job.
“Arastu did the household chores as she (Akriti) would go out and earn. That made him feel ‘small’. He felt his father’s money was enough to run the house, and hence started asking her to leave the job. He told police that he used to beat his wife,” said a senior police officer.
Arastu’s childhood friend Mahesh said that he never suspected there was anything “off” between Arastu and Akriti. “Around Muharram (June 16) this year, we all went to a water park. They both looked very much in love. The fact that he used to beat her is surprising. But who knows…”
As per the FIR, however, Akriti had told her mother on June 17 that Arastu allegedly hit her with a belt because she did not pick his call as it was on silent mode; he suspected that she was having an affair.
On June 29, the FIR alleged, Akriti was beaten by Arastu again.
“On July 3, I called Arastu’s father and told him that my daughter was becoming depressed because of the violence. He spoke to Arastu and scolded him, but Arastu snapped back and abused him…,” Anu alleged in her complaint to police.
What happened on July 4
On July 4, Akriti called her mother to say she had another fight with her husband the previous day. She even told Anu she was throwing a party for her colleagues to mark her “return to self-reliance”.
“Around 6 pm, she called to tell me she had left the office and was returning to her in-laws’ place in Pushp Vihar,” Anu alleged in her complaint.
At 8 pm, Anu said, she got a call from Arastu. He claimed Akriti was not home and had either run away or was hiding at her mother’s place. “Panicking, I called her multiple times but her phone was switched off,” she said.
At 9 pm, Anu asked a friend of Akriti’s to call her. This time, the phone rang. But a policeman was on the other end. “He asked us to come to Lodhi Colony. We found out our daughter was dead,” Anu said.
Police said they got a call from one Neeraj Kumar, who lives in C block in Lodhi Colony; he had found Akriti’s body and rushed her to a hospital. When police reached the spot, they found her handbag, slippers and dupatta on the rooftop of the building from where she is suspected to have jumped.
Akriti was taken to AIIMS where doctors declared her dead on arrival, police said.
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