INDIA: Young woman murdered due to dowry demands 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from reliable sources about the murder of a young woman, about 24 years of age, in Ghazipur district, Uttar Pradesh, at the hands of her in-laws who were demanding a dowry payment (payment of money and goods).

Rukhsana married Athar Ali, from the same district, in February 2003. Soon after the marriage, Athar Ali and his family started making undue demands on Rukhsana for money and other goods.

On 8 May 2005, Athar Ali and his family started beating Rukhsana. It is alleged that soon after, they strangled her to death, poured kerosene oil over her body and set it alight. Thereafter, Athar Ali went to Rukhsana’s father, Mohammad Farukh’s house and asked him to accompany him back to their house, stating that his daughter was unwell. Farukh and his two sons went along and found Rukhsana’s badly burnt corpse. They decided to report the death to the police and Athar Ali’s father volunteered to go along.

However, the group never reached the police station. Farukh and his sons were taken to a brick kiln and kept as captives for two hours. A constable from Dildar Nagar was called for and he took Farukh’s signature on a blank paper saying that he needed this as consent for carrying out the post mortem.

On May 11, Farukh sent a complaint by post to the Station House officer, Ghazipur but no First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged.

Please immediately send a letter to the superintendent of police, Ghazipur, asking him to order an impartial and thorough investigation into this case. A proper forensic science examination should be carried out. Those people responsible for Rukhsana’s horrific death should be punished. Those police officers who failed in their duty to take the required action should also be punished. The AHRC also urges state governments to strongly implement anti-dowry laws and take effective action against perpetrators of dowry crimes.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION

Name of the victim: Rukhsana, age about 24 years, daughter of Mohammad Farukh
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Athar Ali, Rukhsana’s husband
2. Mazhar Ali, Rukhsana’s father-in-law
Date and time of the incident: 8 May 2005, at around 9:00 p.m.
Place of the incident: Ghazipur District, Uttar Pradesh

Case Details:

In February 2003, Rukhsana, a resident of Yusufpur, Ghazipur District, married Athar Ali, belonging to Raksaha, also of Ghazipur District.

As is the custom in many Indian states now, Rukhsana’s father, Mohammad Farukh, provided a dowry to his daughter’s new husband; this despite Farukh being very poor and barely able to fulfil the daily needs of his family. However soon after providing the dowry, Rukhsana’s husband and his family started demanding more money. They also wanted her father to give them a motorcycle. As the demands grew, they would often send her to her father’s place to get money. There were times when in order to punish her for not giving into their demands they would starve her of food.

The situation deteriorated until 8 May 2004, at around 9:00 p.m., Athar Ali and his father, Mazhar Ali, started beating Rukhsana. It is alleged that they then strangled her to death, poured kerosene oil over her body and set it alight.

Athar Ali then went to Mohammad Farukh’s house, asking him to accompany him back to his house, as Rukhsana was not well. Farukh and his two sons immediately went along and on reaching Athar Ali’s house, saw Rukhsana’s badly burnt body. When Farukh said he would go and report this to the police, Mazhar offered to go along with him and his sons.

However, Farukh and his sons never reached the police station. Instead, they were held as hostages for about two hours at a brick kiln by Mazhar Ali. A constable known to Rukhsana’s in-laws was called from Dildar Nagar. He took Farukh’s signatures on a blank paper saying it was needed to get post mortem procedures started.

Rukhsana’s husband and in-laws then started saying that they were not responsible for Rukhsana’s death and asked Farukh to join them for the funeral. On May 11, Farukh sent a complaint by registered post to the Station House Officer, Ghazipur but no FIR was filed and hence there has been no investigation.

Though illegal under law, there are numerous cases of people demanding dowry in India. Unable to meet demands posed by husbands or their families, girls either commit suicide or are killed by those demanding it. While there has been increasing awareness about this issue and girls have refused to marry boys who demand dowry and have registered complaints against them, it is still necessary for the state governments to be more vigilant and enforce the anti-dowry law more strictly. Punishments under the law for dowry deaths are quite severe and a vigilant enforcement will go a long way in eradicating this practice.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter to the Superintendent of Police, Ghazipur district, Uttar Pradesh, asking him to order a thorough and impartial investigation into the case along with a proper forensic examination.