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.
The woman, Sagufta, and her infant son were found dead at their home in Rajpura village on Thursday, police said.
Her husband, Sohil Khan, 27, has been taken into custody for questioning, while the exact cause of death will be established through a postmortem. “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.
According to the complaint, the demand allegedly resurfaced after Sagufta gave birth to her son. During a ceremony for the newborn, when her maternal family brought gifts for the newborn, her in-laws allegedly demanded an SUV and assaulted her.
The situation reportedly escalated on August 15, when Sohil allegedly left Sagufta at her parental home in Salamba, Nuh, telling her that she could return only after her family arranged an SUV. A village panchayat was subsequently held, following which the family alleged that an air conditioner and ₹50,000 were given before Sagufta returned to her marital home on August 17.
The following day, Sagufta allegedly contacted her family and told them that she was again being beaten by her husband and in-laws. She also allegedly expressed fears about the safety of herself and her infant son. Her family told police that they did not anticipate that the threats would be carried out.
On Thursday, the family was informed that Sagufta and her infant son, Juhan, had died. When relatives reached the house, they allegedly noticed marks around the necks of both victims, prompting them to suspect that the mother and child had been strangled.
“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.
Sagufta’s family has demanded the immediate arrest of all accused and sought video recording of the medical examination of the bodies. They have also requested that a woman doctor be included on the board conducting the postmortem.
The FIR names 11 people, including Sohil, his parents, siblings, relatives and village head Sahib. 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.