Malda, Sept. 18 -- A 28-year-old homemaker was allegedly strangled to death at her in-laws' residence in Haragobindapur village under Kahala gram panchayat of Ratua police station in Malda. Police arrested her husband following a complaint lodged by her family and have started an investigation.
The deceased has been identified as Rima Khatun, a resident of Mathurapur Puranigaon area under Manikchak police station. Sources said she had married Sikandar Ansari of Hargobindapur around eight years ago. The couple had three sons.
Rima's family alleged that she had faced physical and mental harassment from her husband over minor domestic issues since their marriage. They claimed that Rima worked as domestic help to support the family. Several local meetings had been held to settle disputes between the couple, but the situation allegedly did not improve.
Mohammad Tajel, a neighbour, said frequent disputes between the couple had been witnessed in the family.
"There used to be disputes between the husband and wife almost every day. We had seen them quarrelling on several occasions," he alleged.
On Thursday night, police recovered Rima's body from her in-laws' house. The body was sent to Malda Medical College and Hospital on Friday morning for post-mortem examination. Police said the exact cause of death would be established after the autopsy report.
Mohammad Hena Momin, Rima's father, alleged that one of her sons told him that his father had strangled his mother to death. "My grandson told me that his father allegedly strangled his mother to death," he alleged.
Rima's family has lodged a written complaint against five people, including Sikandar, alleging their involvement in the death. Police arrested Sikandar and are questioning him. The other accused are absconding, and police are searching for them. Investigation is now underway.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.