THANE: Police in Thane have registered a case against a man and his family members for allegedly harassing his pregnant wife for dowry and assaulting her, leading to a miscarriage, officials said on Thursday.
The victim, hailing from Dombivli in Maharashtra's Thane district, got married to a software engineer residing in Mumbai's Parel area in April 2024.
Her father, a former police personnel, spent Rs 5 lakh on the wedding and provided gold as per the demands of her husband's family, the woman claimed in her police complaint.
She alleged that soon after the wedding, she found her husband was an alcoholic. "When she raised the issue, her in-laws allegedly silenced her, claiming she had no right to complain as her family had not provided enough during the wedding," an official at Vishnunagar police station said quoting the complaint.
During the couple's wedding anniversary last year, a heated argument broke out over monetary demands. Two members of her husband's family allegedly abused her father and pushed her. The woman fell and experienced severe pain, as per the complaint.
A month later, during a medical check-up, doctors informed her that the foetus had died in the womb about a month earlier, citing injuries sustained during the fall, the victim said in the complaint.
She also alleged that her in-laws withheld her Aadhaar card, which was needed for her medical treatment and abortion procedure at the hospital, and threatened to bar her from the house if she approached the police.
"The woman claimed she delayed filing the complaint out of fear of losing her documents and the hope of reconciliation. However, after the abortion, the in-laws allegedly demanded an additional Rs 3 lakh for her to be allowed back into the house," the police official said.
Based on the woman's complaint, a case was registered on February 20 against her husband, his parents and two other family members under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections for cruelty, harassment, criminal intimidation and voluntarily causing hurt, he said.