'Nail scratches, eardrum ruptured, head slammed against wall': Family of Delhi woman claims beatings never stopped over dowry demands

25-year-old Veena Kumari died on Monday after allegedly 'falling' from the terrace of her house in West Delhi's Dasghara village. Her younger brother Rajkumar, now a law student, has alleged that her in-laws started harassing her just six months after the marriage as she moved to Delhi from Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal.

“The first fight happened a year after they wed,” Rajkumar told TOI. “Didi called me over. I saw nail scratches all over her, and they had slammed her head against the wall.” He further alleged that during one assault, a slap ruptured her eardrum.

According to the Indian Express, the last thing Veena Kumari told her younger brother that she is being tortured. Her husband, Raju Singh, a helper at a private firm, claimed she ‘fell’ off the roof of a three-floor building.


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Claiming she was being harassed for dowry despite giving a bike, a 32-inch LED TV, furniture, Veena's brother alleged she was compelled to cook on a traditional wood-fired stove even when she was pregnant, TOI reports. The harassment and beatings did not stop even after she gave birth to her child, the brother alleged, adding that the in-laws taunted her over medical expenses despite the baby being delivered at a govt hospital.

Veena was the second of six children born into a farming family in UP. She studied up to Class XII and worked briefly in the private sector between 2017 and 2018. During that time, she sent money home to help fund the education of her younger brother, Rajkumar (22), who is now pursuing law.

“We wanted to approach the police but village elders stepped in to mediate a settlement through a panchayat and told us not to file a complaint,” her brother said.

Veena remained financially dependent on her in-laws and would often turn to her younger brother Rajkumar for help. “I used to secretly send her money so she could buy essentials for her infant son,” he said.

The family claimed the harassment intensified after the April 25 wedding of her brother-in-law. According to Rajkumar, the groom’s family received a bigger dowry, after which Veena’s in-laws allegedly began taunting and humiliating her family through constant comparisons.

On May 18 at around 9.55 pm, Veena made a distressed call to her elder sister Reena (34), allegedly saying that her in-laws were assaulting her and pleading to be rescued. Just seven minutes later, the family received another call informing them that she had fallen.

“In her final call, she kept saying that if anything happened to her, we should look after her son,” Rajkumar said. Police have arrested Raju and his younger brother and sent both to judicial custody.

(With TOI inputs)