Vadodara: A retired IPS officer, his son and three relatives have been booked by Atladara police after the officer’s daughter-in-law filed a complaint alleging dowry harassment, years of cruelty, intimidation, domestic abuse and repeated demands for property and money after her wedding in 2016.Nikita Gondia, a resident of Atladara, has named her husband Ashish Gondia, father-in-law Praveen Gondia, a retired IPS officer, mother-in-law Usha Gondia, Sheetal Vahoniya and Prakash Vahoniya in the FIR.Nikita told police that she married Ashish in Nov 2016 and their marriage was registered in Vadodara.She alleged that the accused had been taunting her and demanding dowry for a long time. She further claimed that her in-laws did not allow the couple to have a separate bedroom and kept her away from her husband.According to the complaint, she learned after the wedding that her father-in-law had two wives and Ashish was from his first wife, Usha. Nikita alleged that Ashish frequently threatened to marry a second time and assaulted her when she objected. She claimed the accused kept all the jewellery and the cash given by her father while continuing to taunt her over insufficient dowry.The complaint states that on the first day of marriage, Ashish told her that his father was an ADGP in Gujarat Police and the family had not demanded dowry because they did not want to lose standing in the community. Nikita alleged that Ashish told her to ask her father to provide a bungalow or flat in Ahmedabad if she wanted a separate bedroom.According to the complaint, she was forced to serve non-vegetarian food and pressured to eat it.Nikita alleged that Ashish threw her out of their Ahmedabad residence in 2017, after which she returned to her father’s home. She claimed that her husband forced her to quit her job with the Knowledge Consortium of Gujarat in 2018.Later that year, she got pregnant and alleged that the accused were unhappy about it and asked her to stay at her parental home. She delivered a girl in 2019. Nikita stated that the harassment continued after the birth of the child.She alleged that when she got pregnant again in 2020, the accused pressured her to terminate the pregnancy. She refused and gave birth to a boy in Oct 2020.Nikita further alleged that in 2025 her husband took her to a hospital in Ahmedabad and had her pregnancy terminated. She also claimed that she was assaulted last year, prompting her to seek assistance through the 181 Abhayam helpline.According to the complaint, Ashish sought a divorce in Feb this year, after which she returned to her father’s home. Nikita subsequently filed a maintenance case and an application related to domestic violence in court in April this year.Police have registered the offence and are investigating the allegations.
