PATNA: A pregnant woman in Bihar was thrown off the roof of her two-storey house by her husband on Wednesday after she asked him for his mobile phone to talk to her parents. Her legs were fractured after the fall, and her fetus killed.
Babita Devi, 28, a resident of Manjhora village in northern Darbhanga district, told police that her husband Raman Thakur got angry when she asked him for his phone.
Police said Thakur was on the roof talking on his mobile phone and got so angry that he picked Babita up and threw her over.
Babita Devi, who was rushed to RB Memorial Hospital in Darbhanga town, lost her seven-month-old fetus and suffered fractures to both her legs. Doctors at the hospital said her condition remains critical.
“A surgery will be conducted to remove the dead fetus, but only if her condition improves in the next three days,” said a doctor.
Babita’s parents accused Raman Thakur and his family of continuously harassing her over dowry demands. They lodged an FIR against Thakur and his parents and demanded their immediate arrest. They also wanted to take with them Babita’s two young children.
“The victim’s family members have claimed that she jumped off the roof herself after a quarrel with her husband over the mobile phone. We are investigating,” said Darbhanga additional superintendent of police Dilnawaz Ahmed.
Demand for more dowry frequently leads to physical harassment of women by their husbands and in-laws in Bihar.
Nearly five married women are killed every week by their in-laws in the state after torture, stemming mainly from dowry demands.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar announced in May that his government would begin a statewide campaign against dowry.