At least 11 people were booked on Friday after a 25-year-old woman and her one-and-a-half-month-old son were allegedly strangled to death at their home in Haryana’s Palwal district, with the woman’s family accusing her in-laws of harassing her over dowry demands, including an SUV, police said.
She also allegedly expressed fears about the safety of herself and her infant son. Police have invoked provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to murder, criminal conspiracy, dowry death, cruelty by a husband or his relatives, voluntarily causing hurt, unlawful assembly and rioting. Her husband, Sohil Khan, 27, has been taken into custody for questioning, while the exact cause of death will be established through a postmortem. The FIR names 11 people, including Sohil, his parents, siblings, relatives and village head Sahib.
“He had tried to flee after committing the dual murder but was injured after sustaining an injury to his leg when he jumped from the terrace of the third floor of his house,” Station House Officer (SHO) of the Sadar police station Hari Kishan said. “He had used the scarf of his wife to strangle her to death and then killed the toddler too by throttling,” he added. The following day, Sagufta allegedly contacted her family and told them that she was again being beaten by her husband and in-laws. Her family told police that they did not anticipate that the threats would be carried out.
The woman, Sagufta, and her infant son were found dead at their home in Rajpura village on Thursday, police said.
“The case appears to be murder, but the exact cause of death will be confirmed after the postmortem examination. The woman’s husband has been taken into custody for questioning.
Further action will be decided based on the autopsy findings,” a police officer said.
