Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
A 25-year-old woman died by suicide after allegedly enduring sustained physical and mental harassment from her husband and in-laws, with police citing a violent assault over a hair found in food as the immediate trigger. A case was registered at Chhawani police station on Tuesday.
The deceased has been identified as Eshwari Bhujang-Bankar. She married Ajay Bankar on June 28, 2020, and resided in Shravasti Colony, Bhavsingpura. After a few months of marriage, Ajay allegedly developed an alcohol addiction and began abusing her. Despite receiving gold ornaments, Rs 2 lakh in cash, and household items as dowry, he allegedly pressured her to bring more money from her parents and demanded that her father pay instalments on a plot he had purchased.
After a prior suicide attempt and counselling, she was allegedly beaten again on April 6 and 7, following which she died by suicide on Tuesday. After protests during the post-mortem, Chhawani police arrested Ajay (30), Dinesh Bankar (35), Dilip Bankar, Chandramani Bankar, Chhaya Bankar, Ashish Bankar, and Ganesh Bankar on charges of abetment to suicide. Ajay, a supervisor in the municipal solid waste department, and the other accused have been remanded to police custody till April 10.