Homemaker's death shrouded in suicide, murder claims

BANGALORE: There were tense moments at Benson Town on Monday evening after homemaker Noor Asma, 26, was found dead under mysterious circumstances.
While Asma's in-laws claimed she was found hanging in a room at home, her family said there were no ceiling fan hooks or such support in the room for a person to commit suicide. Adding to the confusion, her in-laws removed the body even before police arrived on the spot.
Asma's uncle Sajid Ulla Khan filed a complaint with the JC Nagar police accusing her mother-in-law Rahat Jaan and sister-in-law Naveed of strangling Asma to death.
JC Nagar police detained Asma's husband Fairoz Khan, who is physically challenged and helps his father Mehamood Khan in the family's cloth business in Kammanahalli.
Sajid Khan said he received a call from Asma's mother-in-law around 3.30pm in which she said Asma had hanged herself. "I rushed to their house on Harris Road. To my surprise, I found no material with which Asma could have hanged herself in the room on the first floor. Rahat Jaan and Naveeda requested me not to approach the police and pestered me for an amicable settlement," he said.
Asma's parents Iqbal Khan and Saira alleged that Asma would often complain of harassment by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. "She use to call around midnight and explain the harassment she was undergoing. She was not allowed to speak to us during the day. We were even stopped from visiting her frequently," the parents alleged.
Asma, who was married for six years, is survived by husband and two daughters who are 4 years and 10 months old. JC Nagar police filed a case of dowry harassment and unnatural death. The body has been shifted to Ambedkar Hospital for the autopsy on Tuesday.