PATNA: In yet another shocking case of dowry-related torture in Bihar, a woman was hospitalised after her in-laws forced her to drink an acid used for cleaning toilet for her parents’ failure to give her Rs 27 lakh as demanded by the in-laws.
“Doctors told me at the hospital that I would have died if getting medical help had been delayed by just half an hour,” said Rashmi Banka, a resident of Shankarpuri in Muzaffarpur district. “It was some sort of acid used in cleaning toilets, perhaps Harpic or maybe a locally made acidic liquid, that my in-laws forced me to drink,” she added.
Rashmi and her husband, Amit Banka, married a few months ago after falling in love with each other. Since it was an inter-caste marriage, Amit’s parents and younger brother were unhappy. “But they were the most unhappy about the fact that I did not get as much dowry as they wanted. My parents-in-law and brother-in-law would frequently ask me to bring Rs 27 lakh from my parents,” she said.
The couple left for Pune after their wedding as Amit wanted to find work there. They had started happily settling up in the Maharashtra city when Amit’s parents wanted them to return and so they came back three months ago. Then started the in-laws’ taunts and torture of Rashmi over insufficient dowry.
“When Amit was away on December 8, my parents-in-law and my brother-in-law beat me up and forced me to drink that acidic liquid that burnt a part of the insides of my throat. Some neighbours heard my shrieks and saved my life,” said Rashmi, in her early 20s.
Amit is happy that his wife is alive. “I feel devastated by what happened with her. My parents and my brother are son unreasonable… They keep asking her to get Rs 27 lakh as dowry,” he said.
“We have registered an FIR and he case is being investigated. Proper action would be taken as per law,” said Muzaffarpur SP Vivek Kumar.