Married last year, she alleges dowry harassment; husband, in-laws booked
The suicide note Sangeeta wrote on her palm and forearm. Pics/Hanif Patel; Nitesh and Sangeeta on their wedding day in May 2022
A 25-year-old woman committed suicide after leaving a note on the palm of her hand and forearm alleging that her in-laws were responsible for her taking the extreme step. The incident took place on Friday evening in Nalasopara West. The cops have taken the woman’s husband and her in-laws into custody, but her mother-in-law and sister-in-law are currently absconding.
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Sangeeta married engineer Nitesh Kannojiya, 28, on May 21 last year. mid-day has obtained chilling details of the suicide note Sangeeta wrote in devnagari on her left hand before hanging herself from the ceiling fan of a room at her in-laws’ home in Nalasopara West.
The suicide note reads: “Mai jaa rahi hu… mere jane ke baad dusri shadi kar lena… sara dahej aur shadi ka samaan mere papa ke ghar bhej dena. Mere marne ke jimmedaar mere saas sasur aur pati. Dahej ke khatir meri maa-baap ke beijatti kiya… dahej ke khatir kabhi pati ka pyar nhi mila… har din satana unka pesha… dahej ke khatir…” (I am leaving… marry again after I’m gone… send back the dowry and other things received during the wedding to my father. My husband, mother-in-law and father-in-law are responsible for my death. They insulted my parents for dowry… I never got the love of a husband because of the dowry demand… and was constantly harassed… only for want of dowry)
Sangeeta’s bereaved father told mid-day that her in-laws had been torturing her for dowry ever since she got married. “She was never happy at her in-laws as Nitesh had been always demanding R5lakh in cash and a bullet bike which I could not afford to give him as dowry,” lamented Munnilal Kannojiya, who lives with his family in the Mahalaxmi area.
Talking to mid-day, Sangeeta’s younger brother Vijay said, “Nitesh had called my father on Friday. He had been demanding R5 lakh in cash and threatened that if my father failed to give him dowry, he would not allow my sister to live with him in Nalasopara.” According to Vijay, the family didn’t take Nitesh seriously as the harassment had become a daily routine and he would only talk to them regarding the demand. “But still my father had called Nitesh’s father to apprise him of the situation,” he added.
Vijay recalled that around 4.30 pm on Friday, his father was informed that Sangeeta was no more as she had hanged herself. “This was really shocking for all of us. I was in Goregaon and I immediately caught a train and reached Nalasopara on Friday evening,” he said.
After reaching there, Vijay learnt that the body had been sent for a post-mortem. “We were not allowed to see the body. Her father-in-law had taken a photo of the body hanging from the ceiling fan, but her foot was almost touching the floor. I am sure she must have been killed first by the in-laws and later hanged to make it look like suicide,” alleged Vijay, who works with a private firm in Goregaon.
Meanwhile, Munnilal said, “I am a poor person. How could I have given Nitesh such a huge cash amount and an expensive bike? Still, I went beyond my capacity to give R2 lakh in cash and a bike. But he would always demand more money and a bullet bike. My daughter had to face the brunt of this and was tortured almost every day.”
Munnilal has filed an FIR against Nitesh, his father Shivsevak, mother Asha and sister Mala. “We have registered an FIR under Sections 304-B (dowry death) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and arrested Nitesh and his father. Investigations are underway,” said a police officer attached to Nalaspoara police station.
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