Meerut: The suspicious death of Pooja, who was preparing for IAS in Meerut, has created a stir in the entire area. Pooja's parents allege that she was murdered for dowry.

Meerut: The suspicious death of Pooja, who was preparing for IAS in Meerut, has created a stir in the entire area. Pooja's parents allege that she was murdered for dowry. Pooja, who wanted to take her life to new heights by becoming an officer, was brought to the brink of death by her in-laws. Husband Abhishek and his mother-in-law Rajni are accused of torturing her so much mentally and physically that Pooja had to give up her life. Police have registered a case against four people in this case, in which husband Abhishek has been arrested, while her mother-in-law is absconding with her two and a half year old grandson.

The dream of becoming an IAS was shattered

Pooja was married in 2019 to Abhishek, a resident of Meerut, who works in a private job. Pooja's maternal home is in Panipat, Haryana. Shortly after the marriage, the in-laws started demanding dowry from Pooja. This demand was never made directly, but husband Abhishek used to ask for money in the name of debt. Sometimes 50 thousand and sometimes 70 thousand rupees were demanded. Pooja arranged money from her father many times, but when he refused to give money, the attitude of her in-laws changed and incidents of beatings started increasing.

Constant harassment for dowry

Before marriage, Puja dreamed of becoming an IAS officer. She also took coaching to prepare for civil services, but she left her studies after marriage. A year ago, she started studying again, but this time she could not go to coaching and started self-study in the library. Meanwhile, dowry demands and mental harassment continued in her in-laws' house. On September 2, Puja made a video call to her sister, in which injury marks were visible on her eye. When the sister asked about this, Puja did not say anything and just started crying. The very next day, Puja committed suicide.

Serious allegations against husband and mother-in-law

Pooja's family says that her in-laws had pressurised her to demand Rs 5 lakh and gold jewellery. Earlier too, Abhishek had taken a lot of money from Pooja's parents and even sold the wedding jewellery. When Pooja refused to bring more money or jewellery, her in-laws killed her. Pooja's father alleged that Abhishek and mother-in-law Rajni murdered her as part of a conspiracy and then made it look like a suicide.

Last video call and suicide

After the incident, Abhishek called Puja's family and informed them that she had committed suicide by hanging herself. When Puja's family reached Meerut, no one from her in-laws' house was present there. Even her husband and mother-in-law switched off their phones and fled. After conducting Puja's postmortem, her family took her body to Panipat and cremated her there. Surprisingly, neither Abhishek nor her mother-in-law attended the funeral or the thirteenth day rituals.

This incident has presented a horrific picture of the evil practice of dowry in society and violence against women. The police are now searching for mother-in-law Rajni and other accused, while Abhishek is in jail. Pooja's parents said that now their daughter is gone, but they are also separated from their two and a half year old grandson, whom the mother-in-law has taken away with her.