This story is from February 19, 2020

Bihar woman, infant son and daughter, 3, burned to death over 'dowry'

Lalita Devi (25) along with her infant son Himanshu and daughter Sonali (3) were charred to death in an alleged case of dowry harassment and murder at Kolachchi tola of Ajua village under the Shikarpur police station area, 12 km south of Narkatiaganj in West Champaran on Tuesday. Bettiah SP Vivek Kumar said police are investigating the incident.
Bihar woman, infant son and daughter, 3, burned to death over 'dowry'
Representative image
BETTIAH: Lalita Devi (25) along with her infant son Himanshu and daughter Sonali (3) were charred to death in an alleged case of dowry harassment and murder at Kolachchi tola of Ajua village under the Shikarpur police station area, 12 km south of Narkatiaganj in West Champaran on Tuesday. Bettiah SP Vivek Kumar said police are investigating the incident.
Narkatiaganj SDPO Suryakant Chaubey told TOI that a case of dowry death is being instituted on the statement of the deceased woman’s father Ram Chandra Yadav, a resident of Dainmarwa village under the Ramnagar police station of neighbouring Bagaha police district in West Champaran.

According to preliminary reports, the deceased woman’s husband, Dhan Lal Yadav, had carried the bodies of his wife and minor children to the banks of Ramrekha river adjoining his village for cremation when some villagers informed the police.
Krishna Bedardi, a Bhojpuri folk singer and cousin of the deceased woman said that Lalita was given a Bajaj Platina motorcycle in dowry at her wedding five years ago but her husband Dhan Lal, an agricultural worker, kept insisting on another more expensive brand of motorcycle. “Dhan Lalwa Apache maangat rahey,” Krishna said, adding that a week ago, Lalita had called her father (allegedly) pleading: “ De de je maanga taa (give him what he is demanding).”
Lalita’s father, a small farmer, according to Krishna, had succumbed to pressure and had agreed to meet his son-in-law’s demand once he received the payment for his sugarcane crop. “ When I received a call about the incident, I called Dhan Lal asking him to give the phone to my ‘bahin’,” Krishna said, adding that the brother-in-law promised to connect him with his cousin once he reached home. He said that he was away in the fields harvesting sugarcane. “But when the promised call did not materialise, I rushed to my cousin’s place,” Krishna added.
Narkatiaganj SDPO Chaubey said that a case of dowry death is being instituted against the husband and mother-in-law of the deceased woman. “The woman’s father-in-law is away in Punjab. He is a migrant worker,” he said.
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