22-year-old ends life, kin accuses husband, in-laws of torture

Unable to handle the alleged mental and physical torture she was subjected to by her husband and in-laws, a 22-year-old woman from Santacruz allegedly committed suicide in the wee hours of Thursday.

While the police are awaiting Afroza Ghanchi's autopsy report to ascertain the cause of her death, they have arrested her husband, Gulshad, based on the allegations levelled by Afroza's family of him torturing her for dowry.

Police said that Afroza married Gulshad against her parent's wishes in July 2012. While Gulshad failed his Std X exam, Afroza had completed her graduation from a college in Bandra (W).

Her father had provided all the necessities to Gulshad, so that the couple could start a happy married life. Javed, Afroza's father, who owns Heena Book Centre in Bandra, said, "We were against this marriage, but the two were adamant.

After the marriage, my daughter was tortured physically every single day. Every day they demanded money and we paid. I gave Gulshad a room to stay and opened a new business for him, but he started asking for my bookshop, too."

Javed claimed that Afroza would call him often and complain about Gulshad beating her. "Afroza hoped that everything would get better with time, but it did not.

I kept giving Gulshad money every time he asked for it, thinking about my poor daughter," Javed said, adding, "Gulshad flirted with the women visiting his shop, and Afroza even confronted him about his, and they would argue over this regularly. He never loved my daughter, just cheated on her all the time."

Police officials said the couple fought in the wee hours of Thursday, following which Gulshad assaulted Afroza before leaving home. It was one of their relatives who spotted Afroza's body hanging from the ceiling. "It appeared as if somebody had hung it from the ceiling. The dupatta from which it was hanging was tied thrice around her neck. It could be a murder case," the relative said.