Daijiworld Media Network - Greater Noida
Greater Noida, Aug 25: In a shocking dowry death case, police have arrested Rohit Bhati, brother-in-law of Nikki Bhati, who was brutally assaulted and set ablaze at her in-laws’ residence in Greater Noida. This is the third arrest after Nikki’s husband Vipin Bhati and mother-in-law Daya were earlier taken into custody, while Vipin’s father Satyavir remains absconding.
According to the FIR filed by Nikki’s sister Kanchan, who is married into the same family, 28-year-old Nikki was beaten by her husband and mother-in-law on August 21 evening before Vipin allegedly poured inflammable liquid on her and set her on fire. When Kanchan tried to intervene, she too was assaulted.
Disturbing video clips recorded by Kanchan show Nikki being thrashed and later walking in flames down a staircase. Nikki, who suffered severe burn injuries, succumbed during treatment at Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital.
On Sunday, Vipin was shot in the leg during an encounter after he attempted to snatch a cop’s pistol and flee while being taken to recover evidence. “In retaliatory firing, he suffered a bullet injury in his leg,” senior police officer Sudhir Kumar said.
Speaking from hospital, Vipin denied murdering his wife, saying, “I haven’t killed her, she died on her own. Husbands and wives often have fights, it is very common.”
Meanwhile, Nikki’s father Bikhari Singh Payla demanded strict action. “They are killers, they should be shot, their home razed. My daughter was bringing up her son by running a parlour. They tortured her. The whole family conspired and killed her,” he said.
Nikki and her sister Kanchan had married into the Bhati family in 2016. Kanchan alleged that despite their father giving huge dowry including a Scorpio SUV, Bullet bike, cash, and gold, the in-laws were never satisfied and kept harassing them for more.
“They would even take away our earnings from the make-up studio. We were beaten up for this. Had I not recorded the video, no one would have believed what happened to Nikki,” Kanchan said.