Noida woman dies 18 months after wedding; family alleges murder, says she faced constant dowry torture

NOIDA: Eighteen months after her marriage, a 24-year-old woman died at her in-laws’ place in Greater Noida on Sunday, purportedly from a fall from the third-floor terrace that was reported to the police as suicide, but her family claims is murder.

Deepika Nagar, her father Sanjay told police, was harassed and taunted relentlessly by the in-laws over “unmet” dowry demands. Sanjay accused Deepika’s husband Ritik Nagar, a real estate broker who is studying LLB, and his family of murdering her and pushing her from the roof of their house in Jalpura to make the death look like suicide.

Soon after an FIR was filed at Ecotech 3 police station on Monday morning, Ritik and his father were arrested. Seven others in Ritik’s family, including his mother, are absconding, police said.

According to Sanjay, Deepika’ was mistreated ever since the Dec 11, 2024 wedding and found regular humiliation instead of happiness in her marital life. He told police that hours before her death, around 12pm on Sunday, she called him in tears, saying her in-laws were assaulting her over dowry. Deepika’s family members reached her matrimonial home around 7pm to calm things down. Hours after they returned, they were told she had fallen off the roof and was being taken to a hospital. Deepika was declared dead at 12.30pm.

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Sanjay claimed while the marriage was solemnised with gifts, including a Scorpio car, Rs 12 lakh in cash and gold jewellery during various rituals such as kanyadaan and lagan. However, Ritik and his family demanded an additional Toyota Fortuner and Rs 51 lakh in cash and would continuously pressure Deepika, he alleged.

Based on his complaint, the FIR was filed under sections 85 (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 80(2) (dowry death) of BNS and sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. Sanjay named Ritik, his father Manoj, mother Poonam, sisters Neha and Tanni, and relatives Pramod and Vinod in the FIR.

He also alleged Deepika had repeatedly informed them about the abuse she was enduring. However, despite their efforts to resolve the matter amicably, the situation only continued to worsen. Sanjay claimed that on Sunday afternoon, after Deepika called him crying, he and his brother-in-law Babu Pradhan went to Jalpura but were met with aggressive behaviour from the in-laws.

“After I returned home, I got a call saying she had fallen. I asked whether she fell from the stairs or in the bathroom, and they said she fell from the roof, and that they were taking her to the hospital. When we reached Sharda Hospital, we saw that she was dead,” Nagar said.

He alleged that her body had several injury marks and wounds that could have occurred from attacks from weapons like a screwdriver, a knife, or a blade.

A relative of Ritik who lives in Jalpura said the death was suspicious. “If this was a suicide, wouldn't her husband be at the hospital? Only her father-in-law was there. Even her mother-in-law and sister-in-law were absent,” he said.

Another questioned why Deepika was taken to Sharda Hospital, 20km from Jalpura, when the nearest hospital to her in-laws’ house was Yatharth, 2-3 km away. Police said doctors have not yet confirmed the cause of death. “Postmortem has been conducted and the viscera preserved for forensic analysis. Further investigation is underway,” a police officer said.

Deepika had completed her BEd. Her father worked with Delhi Jal Board. Ritik’s family runs three primary schools in the area.