Kendrapada: The in-laws and husband of a 21-year-old newly married woman were arrested in Jagatsinghpur district on Thursday for allegedly burning her to death over dowry.The victim, Subhalaxmi Das, 21, of Sidhala village, was married on Feb 25 this year to Prakash Samal, 26, a resident of Narasinghpur village under Balikuda police station.The accused trio, Prakash Samal, the husband of the deceased, and his parents Arun Samal, 52, and Minati Samal, 45, allegedly poured kerosene on the woman on Wednesday evening and set her ablaze, following which she died. “After her demise, the accused trio tried to cremate the body in the village cremation ground. But acting on a tip-off, police rushed to the site and seized the half-burnt body,” said the IIC of Balikuda police station, Kabuli Barik.Based on a complaint lodged by the victim’s father, Daitary Das, the police launched an investigation and arrested the three. Das claimed in his complaint that his daughter Subhalaxmi Das was allegedly being harassed by her husband and his parents over additional dowry demand. After Subhalaxmi’s family did not pay the dowry, she was burnt to death by her husband and in-laws. The body was sent to the district headquarters hospital at Jagatsinghpur for post-mortem. “Further investigation into the case is underway,” said the IIC of Balikuda police station, Kabuli Barik.“The accused were booked under sections 103 (murder), 238 (destruction of evidence) and 85 (cruelty inflicted on a woman by her husband or his relatives) of BNS and 4 of the Dowry Prevention Act,” added the police officer.They were produced in the local court on Thursday. The court rejected their bail applications and remanded them in jail custody, added the officer.
