Mumbai: 22-year-old Mulund resident commits suicide, family alleges torture

Aarti Mohite (left) had married Prashant Kapade

The Mulund police have arrested a man and his family in connection with the suicide of a 22-year-old woman, whom he married recently. Aarti Mohite had married Prashant Kapade, 24, on August 1. Both were in a relationship for the last seven to eight years.

According to Aarti's parents, she committed suicide due to the insults she faced for belonging to a lower caste. Aarti and Prashant had been living in Vishwa Sahakar Society in Mulund East after they got married this month. "Aarti was in love. I was a bit hesitant, as Prashant was working as a contractual worker with the BMC. But due to her insistence, I agreed to the marriage. However, within a couple of days, her in-laws started torturing her," said Aarti's father Jagdish Mohite. "They also asked her to bring dowry and beat her when she refused," he alleged.

On the evening of August 19, Aarti hanged herself from the ceiling fan when no one was at home. The body was found by her in-laws, Dilip and Chanda Kapade. "After the wedding, she faced humiliation on a daily basis, because she belonged to a lower caste. Her friends told us that she attempted to take her life thrice in the past," said a relative.

After her death, her parents filed a complaint with the Mulund Police. The cops registered an FIR under IPC sections 304 B (dowry death), 498 A (husband or relative subjecting women of cruelty), 306 (abetment of suicide), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (breach of peace), 34 (common intention). "Primary investigations have revealed that the husband and in-laws were torturing Aarti," said an officer with the Mulund police station.

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