Woman killed for Rs 20L dowry, body hung to stage suicide in UP

BALLIA: Police have registered a case against a man and four members of his family for allegedly murdering his 32-year-old wife and hanging her body to make it appear as a suicide in the Bairia area, an officer said on Friday. The deceased has been identified as Sonam Singh (32). According to police, the case was registered on Thursday at Bairia police station on the complaint of Manju Devi, a resident of Maharajpur village in the Sahatwar area and the victim’s mother. In her complaint, Manju Devi alleged that her daughter was married to Markandey Singh of Sonbarsa village on December 11, 2023. On March 4, her husband and in-laws allegedly murdered her over a dowry demand of Rs 20 lakh and later hanged the body to portray it as a suicide. Based on the complaint, police registered a case against Markandey Singh, his father Anil Singh, mother Devanti Singh, brother Piyush Singh, and sister-in-law Mani Singh under sections 85 (cruelty to woman) and 89(2) (miscarriage without woman's consent) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act. SHO of Bairia police station Rajendra Prasad Singh said the post-mortem report revealed that the death was due to hanging. Efforts are underway to arrest all the accused, he added.