UP: Constable registers case against her husband, in-laws for torture over dowry

Pilibhit (UP), Dec 9 (PTI) A police constable in Pilibhit registered a case against her husband, who is also a constable, and her in-laws, alleging that they demanded dowry and subjected her to cruelty, a police official said on Tuesday.

The constable is stationed at the Bisalpur police station in Pilibhit district, while her husband is stationed at the Sector-20 police station in Gautam Buddh Nagar. According to her complaint, on September 5, 2024, around 8 pm, she saw her husband in an inappropriate situation with her sister-in-law, Shweta. When she confronted them, her in-laws physically assaulted her and forced her to drink sanitiser in what they intended to be a fatal act, leading to her hospitalisation due to serious health complications. Based on her complaint, Sanjeev Shukla, the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Bisalpur police station, confirmed that a case was registered on Sunday. The case was registered under Sections 85 (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 351(3) (criminal intimidation) and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the BNS and the Dowry Prohibition Act, police said. The case was registered against the complainant's husband, Priyank Sharma, father-in-law Rajeshwar Prasad Sharma, mother-in-law Kunti Devi, brothers-in-law Anuj Sharma and Mukesh Sharma and sisters-in-law Shweta and Santosh. In her complaint, the constable mentioned she married Priyank Sharma, a resident of Meerut district, on January 26, 2023. She detailed that her family spent approximately Rs 50 lakh on the wedding, providing a car, gold and silver jewellery, expensive clothing, electronics, furniture, and utensils. However, she claimed her in-laws were dissatisfied with the dowry items, calling them inferior and low quality, and began demanding a Scorpio (SUV) just two days after the wedding. When she expressed her inability to fulfil this demand, her in-laws allegedly abused and assaulted her, even threatening her life.

The complainant further alleged that on July 13, 2023, her husband and father-in-law pressured her to take medication intended to conceive a boy. After she refused, they came to Pilibhit and attacked her with the intent to kill. On January 30, 2024, she gave birth to a son in Meerut. Due to the assaults she endured during pregnancy, she claimed that the child suffered injuries in the womb and now experiences seizures. Additionally, she claimed that her brother-in-law, Mukesh Sharma, had been keeping an evil eye on her and attempting to rape and molest her. On October 5, 2025, she accused Mukesh of raping her at gunpoint in Meerut.

As a result, a case was registered against him at the Kharkhauda police station under sections Sections 64 (punishment for rape), 74 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the BNS, the complainant said. PTI COR NAV MPL MPL