LUCKNOW: Amid massive outrage over the alleged dowry death of Nikki Bhati, 28, in Greater Noida last week, police have arrested all four of the victim's in-laws including her husband, brother-in-law, father-in-law and mother-in law. While the victim's husband, Vipin, 30, was arrested on Saturday, and is now in 14-day judicial custody, the victim's mother-in-law Daya Bhati was held on Sunday, while her brother-in-law Rohit Bhati and father-in-law Satyaveer Bhati were nabbed on Monday.
Victim's brother-in-law Rohit is married to her sister Kanchan. Nikki Bhati was set on fire allegedly by her husband at home on August 21 following an alleged altercation over her posting reels on Instagram and wanting to reopen a beauty parlour they used to run along with her sister. Nikki and her sister Kanchan both were married into Bhati family in 2016 of Greater Noida's Sirsa and reportedly endured relentless abuse – routine beatings, dowry demands, and sabotage – throughout their marital life.
After the incident on August 21, based on the complaint given by the victim's sister, Noida police lodged a case under Section 103 (murder), Section 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), and Section 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Kasna police station naming victim's husband Vipin Bhati, father-in law Satyaveer Bhati, mother-in-law Daya Bhati and brother-in-law Rohit Bhati.
As per the victim's family sources, both Nikki and Kanchan wanted to re-open the beauty parlour they used to run from the third floor of their in-laws' house to sustain the family, as their husbands are unemployed. According to police sources, Vipin opposed the victim’s plan to reopen the beauty parlour and even putting reels on social media platforms.
However, Nikki stood undeterred to her husband's opposition saying that no one could stop her. "Around 3.30 pm on August 21, Nikki told Vipin that she and her sister would reopen the parlour. When he refused, Nikki said that no one could stop them from reopening which Bhati opposed,” said Kasna station house officer Dharmendra Shukla. Vipin told Nikki that posting reels and running a parlour were "not allowed" in his family, following which the issue escalated and Vipin started assaulting Nikki who kept on pleading for mercy, said the cop.
Then Vipin doused her with inflammable liquid (the can of thinner) and set her ablaze inside their home and fled the scene. After being rushed from hospital to hospital by her sister Kanchan, Nikki was declared dead at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital after being referred by two private hospitals to Delhi.
Around two hours later, Nikki's brother got a call from Kanchan saying Nikki was set on fire. "We were informed by my sister Kanchan Bhati around 5.30 pm that Nikki was burnt alive by her husband Vipin over dowry dispute. Kanchan and her in-laws (Vipin's parents) rushed her from hospital to hospital, whereas Vipin fled the spot after committing the crime," said Nikki's brother Rohit Gurjar.
As per the victim's family members, Nikki returned home multiple times after being assaulted during the last nine years of marital life, but was convinced to return each time in hopes of reconciliation. However, sources claimed that despite lavish dowry gifts including a Scorpio SUV, Royal Enfield, cash, gold, the cruelty escalated, culminating in a deadly dowry demand of Rs 36 lakh more.
"Their demands were increasing day by day," said Bikhari Singh, father of Nikki Bhati. He demanded that UP CM Yogi Adityanath to get Nikki's killer eliminated in a police encounter and their house bulldozed. "If this does not happen, we will sit on hunger strike," he said. He added that at the time of the wedding, the in-laws of their daughters had demanded a Scorpio SUV, which was given to them. "Then they demanded a bullet motorcycle, which was also given by us. After that, they began demanding Rs 36 lakh or a Mercedes car, which is parked at our house.”
The victim's father claimed that he helped his daughters to open the beauty parlour as both the grooms were unemployed. "Vipin started stealing money from the parlour," said Bhikhari Singh. Nikki's mother claimed that going beyond their limits, they gave 30 tola gold and the Scorpio at the time of the wedding.
"When my daughters had children, we gave a motorcycle and 11 tola gold more.. But they continued to torture the girls. When we took them back, they held panchayats and pleaded us to send them back to them. But the abuse did not stop," says the devastated mother. Kanchan said that they both were beaten and tortured for days.
"On the fateful day, they hit her on the neck and head, threw acid and set her on fire in front of her child." Kanchan also alleges that their in-laws wanted Nikki out of the house as they wanted Vipin to remarry.
While the victim fought for her life for two days before dying of severe burn injuries, her husband Vipin, the main accused in the case, arrested on Saturday, tried to flee the police custody. He snatched a policeman’s pistol while being taken by the cops, on Sunday, to recover the inflammable material that he used to set the victim afire. He was finally shot in the leg, police said.
In a video clip that emerged on social media, Vipin Bhati is seen saying that he had "no remorse" for the incident, which led to her death. "She died on her own. Husband and wife often have fights, it is very common..."
Meanwhile, the triggering videos of the August 21 incident and testimonies of Nikki's son and her sister Kanchan surfaced on social media on how the accused Vipin and another woman assaulted the victim and dragged her by the hair. In one of the videos, Vipin was seen pouring a liquid (thinner used in parlour) on the victim while she sat on the floor.
In another, he was seen assaulting her brutally and another video showed Nikki, severely burnt, engulfed by the flames walking down a staircase before collapsing. Nikki’s son, 6, confirmed the attack and said, "Papa sprinkled something on Mumma, slapped her, and then lit her on fire."
As per the family claims, those videos were recorded deliberately by Nikki's sister Kanchan who was also present in the house at the time of incident. As she tried to intervene between Vipin and Nikki, she was also assaulted following which she fell and turned unconscious. Kanchan had been witness to years of abuse, both sisters were facing since their marriage at the hands of their in-laws. These visuals have not only shocked the nation but have become crucial evidence in a case.
Significantly, Nikki and Kanchan together ran channels on Instagram and YouTube to promote their parlour and the one on Instagram with 54,500 followers. Their handle was called 'Makeover by Kanchan', and the sisters also had individual accounts. Nikki's private account had 1,147 followers and Kanchan's had 22,000 followers. They were actively posting videos and content, and had over 2.9 million views.
Nikki’s another brother Vicky said they had kept quiet for years to avoid social shame—but now, they wanted the entire Bhati family behind bars. He added that a fight had broken out between Nikki and Vipin around a week before the incident. But as always, Vipin apologised in front of elders and promised not to pick a fight with Nikki again.
As details of the case unfolded, amid the surging outrage, both online and offline, Kanchan, herself a social media creator with thousands of followers, launched the “Justice for Nikki” campaign, sharing what the sisters had endured behind the closed doors of a joint family.