Woman dies in Saudi, kin allege murder for dowry

Lucknow: A 26-year-old woman engineer from Lucknow died under suspicious circumstances in Saudi Arabia, prompting her family to allege dowry murder after her body was flown back to the city on Tuesday.Police registered a complaint against her husband and in-laws and sent the body for a post-mortem to ascertain the cause of death. The deceased, Aiman Khan, a BTech in computer science and a software engineer, lived in Adarsh Vihar Colony on Malhaur Road in Chinhat. Her father, Sher Ali Khan, a sub-inspector in the fire department, said Aiman married an engineer from Rae Bareli on April 10, 2025. She was pregnant at the time of her death, the family claimed. In his complaint, Sher Ali alleged that while substantial dowry was given at the time of the nikah, instead of Innova car, a Kia Seltos was given. According to the father, tensions began soon after the marriage, with the husband allegedly angered over the car not being registered in his name and breaking Aiman's iPhone during an argument. Sher Ali alleged that in Saudi Arabia, Aiman was subjected to sustained mental and physical harassment by her husband, his brother, and 2 brothers-in-law. He also claimed Aiman was prevented from joining a new job. In Oct 2025, Aiman returned to India alone and described the abuse to her family. After assurances and talks, she went back to Jeddah on Oct 19. The harassment allegedly resumed. In her last WhatsApp call on Dec 17, Aiman told her father she was being denied food and water and that her passport and iqama were taken away. The next day, the family was informed of her death. "Action will follow based on the postmortem report," said Chinhat SHO Dinesh Mishra.