‘Bring Rs 50,000, then use toilet’: UP woman accuses in-laws of harassment

A Bhadohi woman has alleged that her in-laws locked the toilet at home and assaulted her after she refused to bring Rs 50,000 from her father as dowry. Police registered an FIR against five relatives under multiple provisions

Bhadohi (UP): A woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Bhadohi has alleged that her in-laws locked the toilet in their house and prevented her from using it after she refused to bring Rs 50,000 from her father as dowry, police said on Thursday.

Superintendent of Police Abhinav Tyagi said the complaint by Shabnam, a resident of Roshan Tara locality, led to an FIR against her father-in-law Buniyaad, brothers-in-law Iliyas and Nanhku, and sisters-in-law Sana and Rehana at the City Kotwali police station on Wednesday.

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“The woman alleged that her in-laws demanded Rs 50,000 from her father in the first week of September, which she refused,” Tyagi said.

According to the complaint, on the morning of September 27, when Shabnam, aged around 20, went to use the toilet, she found its door locked. When she asked her in-laws to open it and tried to open it herself, they allegedly assaulted her and told her she would be allowed to use the toilet only after bringing Rs 50,000 from her father.

“Shabnam told us that when she tried to open the locked toilet, her father-in-law and in-laws allegedly kicked and punched her and told her to bring Rs 50,000 from her father if she wanted to use the toilet,” the SP said.

She allegedly had to go to a neighbour’s house to use the toilet.

According to her complaint, the toilet was unlocked when other family members needed to use it and locked again afterwards.

Tyagi said Shabnam’s husband, Imtiyaz, was also unable to get the toilet unlocked as he was allegedly afraid of his father and elder brothers.

The accused have been booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 85 (subjecting a woman to cruelty by her husband or his relatives), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt) and 351(3) (aggravated criminal intimidation), besides Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, concerning giving or taking dowry and demanding dowry, respectively.

“The City Kotwali inspector has been directed to take necessary action in the matter,” Tyagi said.

City Kotwali Inspector Shailesh Kumar Rai has been directed to take further action in the case, the SP said.