Women found killed on highway, police say dowry death

AGRA: A day after TOI reported about a couple been attacked by unidentified men near state highway in Sungadi police jurisdiction area of Kasganj, police said on Tuesday that it seems to be a case of dowry death. The matter is under investigation.
The couple returning home after taking holy dip in river Ganga in Kasganj district, were allegedly attacked by group of unidentified men, who dragged the married woman in nearby field and killed her.The assailants also stabbed the husband, who had been referred to the Aligarh medical college. While the victims’ family had alleged gangrape too, the post-mortem report later ruled it out.
On condition of anonymity, a senior police officer said, “Deceased Pooja Thakur’s father Devendar Singh has given us a written complaint against Sunil Thakur for dowry death. Devendar claims that Sunil has been demanding dowry for last two years and had threatened to kill Pooja on several occasions.”
Speaking to TOI over phone, Devendar Singh, who is a farmer in Etah district, said, “Even after giving Sunil valuables worth over Rs 1 lakh including gold chain, buffaloes and other items, he kept on demanding for more and harassed my daughter.”
“On two occasions, my daughter had informed me over phone that Sunil will kill her if his wish is not fulfilled. On Sunday evening, when Pooja was murdered, Sunil said he went to Khachla ghat for holy dip but his village Olai Kheda is less than one kilometre away from river Ganga. Then why did he ride a bicycle for 17 km to Khachla?” said Singh.
He further said, “We were informed by in-laws of Pooja that the duo were attacked by knife-wielding men. But Sunil has received only minor injuries in the attack.”
TOI tried to contact Sunil Thakur for his comment on the allegation but he did not respond.
According to sources, police will now detain Thakur and will question him in front of his father-in-law on Wednesday.
The crime rate on UP highways is one of the highest in the country. In the aftermath of the Bulandshahr gangrape, the UP director general of police had announced to deploy a fleet of over 3,000 SUVs for patrolling the highways in the state. At present, a police force of 542 stations across the state patrol the roads.