Greater Noida dowry death: Victim’s father-in-law, brother-in-law arrested

Her 30-year-old husband, Vipin, was arrested on Thursday. On Sunday, UP Police said Vipin was “shot in the leg” while “trying to escape from custody”.

His mother, Daya (55), was also arrested on Sunday.

Vipin later said in a public statement from the private hospital where he was admitted, “I have not done anything. I do not want to say anything more.”

The incident came to light on Thursday after the police were informed of Nikki’s death through a memo of a private hospital.

“We received a memo from Fortis Hospital at Kasna Police station that a woman was admitted to the hospital after she suffered severe burn injuries and was later referred to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi,” said Sudhir Kumar, Additional Commissioner of Police Greater Noida.

She died on the way to Safdarjung Hospital.

Prima facie, the ADCP said, it appears that the family burnt the woman using thinner. “We are investigating from all angles and have also taken all the viral videos into consideration,” he said.

Dharmendra Shukla, Station House Officer, Kasna, told The Indian Express that on Thursday a police team was rushed to Fortis after the initial information was received. “Her body was sent for post-mortem and was cremated on Friday. We received a complaint from her sister against her in-laws and husband and filed an FIR,” he said.

In her complaint to the police, Nikki’s elder sister, Kanchan, who is married to Rohit — Vipin’s elder brother — alleged that around 5.30 pm on Thursday, her mother-in-law handed over the inflammable substance to Vipin who poured it over my sister. “When I protested, they assaulted me. My father-in-law and husband were also present there,” Kanchan told the police.

Meanwhile, some purported videos of the incident also surfaced on social media. In one of the videos, Nikki can be seen rolling down the stairs after she was burnt alive. The second video shows her being hit and hair pulled by her mother-in-law and husband.

The accused have been booked under sections 103(1) (murder), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.