1 year after marriage, woman dies mysteriously; in-laws cremate body before cops arrive

BUXAR: A case of alleged dowry murder has surfaced from Pilapur village under Jagdishpur police station area in Bhojpur district, where the in-laws of a married woman allegedly cremated her body after her suspicious death without informing police or her parental family.

Police have registered an FIR against five members of the woman’s in-laws’ family, including her husband, and arrested the mother-in-law in connection with the case.

The deceased, identified as 21-year-old Sanju Devi, was married to Vinod Pal of Ward No. 8 in Pilapur village around one year ago. The couple had no children. Sanju’s parental home is in Ikil village under Sonvarsha police station area of Buxar district.

According to police, information about the woman’s suspicious death was received on Monday. However, when police reached the village, the body was missing from the house. During investigation, it was found that the family members had already cremated the body without informing either police or the woman’s relatives.

After being informed, the deceased’s brother Shivam Pal lodged a complaint at Jagdishpur police station. Based on his statement, police registered a dowry murder case against husband Vinod Pal, brother-in-law Pramod Kumar, father-in-law Bhikhi Pal, mother-in-law Sumitra Devi, and sister-in-law Kiran Kumari.

Police said it is yet to be confirmed whether Sanju was murdered or died by suicide due to alleged harassment.

Jagdishpur SHO Sushant Kumar Mandal said that acting on the complaint, police arrested accused mother-in-law Sumitra Devi, while raids are underway to arrest the remaining accused.