JEYPORE: Padwa police on Wednesday arrested a 25-year-old man of Pujariput village on charges of torture and abetment of suicide of his wife.
The accused Pravas Singh is a small-time trader. The victim, 21-year-old Sibani Singh from MV-10 in Malkangiri district had married Pravas two months back after both their families consented.
On Monday, Pravas’ father smelt something burning and traced it to the bathroom. On rushing to the spot, he allegedly saw Sibani engulfed in flames. The family rushed her to the Lamtaput Ashakiran hospital but by then she had sustained major burn injuries.
Sibani’s father Gagan Mandal filed a complaint with police alleging she was set on fire by her in-laws over dowry. “My daughter was constantly tortured by her husband and in-laws since the last two months over dowry,” he alleged in the complaint filed on Tuesday.
While police had initiated investigation, Sibani succumbed to her burn injuries on the day. Basing on Gagan’s complaint, police arrested Pravas. He has been booked under sections 304(b), 306, 498(a), 494 of IPC. Padwa IIC Ashok Kumar Bisoi said Pravas will be produced in court on Thursday. “Postmortem of the body will be conducted in Koraput,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pravas’ family has refuted the claims of their involvement in Sibani’s alleged suicide citing she had made such an attempt earlier by hanging herself but was saved by them.