Thaindian News

Bangalore, June 6 (IANS) A manager with a global software major was arrested here for abetting suicide of his wife by harassing her for dowry, a senior police officer said Monday.

“Sikandar Abhijit, 31, implementation manager at Wipro, was arrested under section 304B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for harassing his wife Asthi Shekar, 29, for more dowry and causing her to commit suicide June 3 in their house,” Bangalore northeast deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Ravikant Gowda told IANS.

The accused, who hails from Bihar, was arrested on the basis of a first information report (FIR) filed by the parents of the victim, who also hail from Bihar.

“In support of evidence, Asthi’s parents (Muralidhar Pathak and Saritha Pathak) from Patna in Bihar, have produced their daughter’s diary and letters in which she had alleged that she was mentally harassed and tortured for getting more dowry, in cash, jewellery and household articles,” Gowda said.

Pathak, a principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya in Patna, said the couple was married Feb 27 and his daughter came to Bangalore in March to settle down with Abhijit.

“She was a post-graduate in economics and bright. We never imagined that our younger daughter would meet such a tragic end within months after her marriage,” Pathak told reporters here at the city police commissioner’s office.

The police also booked the accused under section 429A of the IPC for suppressing evidence and misleading the victim’s parents on reasons behind his wife’s suicide.

“Abhijit was produced in a local court earlier in the day and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days for further investigation into the case,” Gowda added.

Parents of the accused - Manivander Jha and Nandita Jha, who hail from Darbhanga in Bihar, are also being interrogated in the dowry harassment case.