4 held after Ajmer woman killed over childlessness

Kshitiz Gaur | TNN

Ajmer: Police in the cantonment town of Nasirabad in Ajmer district have arrested a man and three of his family members for allegedly strangling his wife to death and staging the incident as a suicide.

Investigators said the woman was allegedly subjected to harassment over dowry demands and her inability to conceive.

Police identified the accused as Jayant Dhanka (25), the victim’s husband, his father Subhash Chand Dhanka (65), his mother Manju Devi (62), and his sister Leena (27) – all residents of Kali Mai Road in Nasirabad.

Police said the deceased, Sonia, was found hanging at her matrimonial home on May 29. Initially, her husband, Jayant Dhanka, told police that she had committed suicide.

A more detailed investigation was launched, however, after Sonia’s father, Kamal Kumar, a resident of Jaipur, filed a complaint. In it, he alleged that his daughter had been facing continuous harassment from her husband and in-laws since her marriage in 2024.

According to the complaint, Sonia had told her family that she was being harassed and taunted by her in-laws for bringing insufficient dowry and was under additional pressure because she had not conceived.

Police said Kumar alleged that his daughter was regularly abused and assaulted.

An investigation revealed that Sonia was strangled to death before her body was hung from the ceiling to make it look like a case of suicide, police said.