Newlywed woman’s body found at parents’ doorstep in Saran; family alleges dowry death

Patna: The body of a newly-wed woman was allegedly dumped by her in-laws at her parents’ doorstep in Chidiya Bazar Koiri Patti village under Hariharnath police station area of Saran on Friday morning. The victim, Sarita Prakash (28), daughter of Jai Prakash Mahato, had reportedly been facing persistent dowry demands from her husband and in-laws just months after she married Satendra Kumar, a resident of the Kartaha area, on May 9, 2025.According to police, Mahato spoke to his daughter on Thursday evening, but when he woke up on Friday morning, he found her body lying in front of the house. In his complaint, Mahato alleged that his son-in-law had demanded Rs8 lakh, which he somehow arranged and paid about 10 days ago. However, Satendra allegedly called again, pressing for an additional Rs5 lakh, which he refused to pay. Upon receiving information, Hariharnath SHO Vimalesh Kumar Singh reached the spot with a team and began investigations. “Preliminary investigations indicate death by strangulation, and a case of dowry harassment has been registered. It has come to light that the victim’s husband had been demanding money from Jai Prakash Mahato, which he could not pay. It is suspected that they killed the woman for this reason,” he said.The SHO told this newspaper on Saturday that no arrests have been made so far, as all the accused are absconding. “The team went to Satendra’s house in the Kartaha police station area in Vaishali district, but no one was found. CCTV footage shows a black SUV stopping outside her maternal home. A man is seen getting out of the vehicle, dragging out the body and leaving it on the road before driving away,” Singh said.He added: “It is suspected that the crime may have occurred in Vaishali and the body was later dumped at Mahto’s doorstep in Saran. The police will soon seize the vehicle seen in the footage, which was reportedly hired by the accused.”