Pregnant woman murdered for dowry by husband, in-laws

The 21-year-old woman, who was 4 months pregnant was murdered and her corpse thrown into a well to make it look like suicide. A 21-year-old married woman, who was four months pregnant, was

allegedly murdered by her husband and in-laws on Saturday and her corpse thrown into a well to make it look like suicide. The victim, Kalpana Pokharakar, was a resident of Pimplegaon Khadki

in Ambegaon taluka of Pune district. Her father, Bhagwan Rodhe, a resident of Bursewadi in Rajgurunagar, lodged a complaint at Manchar police station against the victim’s husband Nitin, his

father Suryakant, mother Ratanbai, younger brother Vaibhav and relative Jaisinh Vayal, for murdering and mentally and physically harassing Kalpana for dowry. The police arrested the five

suspects on Sunday. The in-charge of the Manchar police station, senior inspector Yashwant Gaware, said Kalpana was married on May 15 this year in a mass marriage ceremony that took place in

Ambegaon. “During the marriage, Rodhe had given 4 tolas of gold. However, some days later, the suspects started harassing Kalpana and demanded an additional Rs2 lakh for purchase of an

apartment,” the police said. Apparently to hide their act, the suspects filed a missing complaint with Manchar police station last Monday. “On Saturday we found her decomposed body in the

well. There were marks of assault all over her. We are of the view that the suspects thrashed her to death and later threw her into the well,” Gaware said. Apart from dowry demands, Nitin

suspected his wife’s character and wanted her to abort the child. Gaware said the suspects are being quizzed to ascertain the reasons why she was killed.