AN engineer and his parents have been arrested after the dismembered body of the former’s wife was found near the railway track at Razapur crossing here last Thursday. It is believed that the victim, Shobhana Singh (25), was killed for dowry.
Dhimant Singh Rawat, 27, is an engineer in a private firm while his father Balwant Singh Rawat is a manager at a fibreglass factory. Dhimant’s mother Madhur has also been arrested but his sister Madhuri is at large. She is thought to have Dhimant’s 16-month-old son Anant with her.
Dhimant and his parents have been arrested on the basis of a police complaint by Shobhana’s father Subhash Chand Singh, who owns an inverter and generator factory in Bahadurgarh. The Singhs were told last Thursday that Shobhana was missing and were informed the following day that she had committed suicide.
“They told us that our daughter is missing since May 10 evening but when we reached their house, they were relaxed and having dinner,” said Pramod Singh, Shobhana’s uncle and a resident of Sharjah in the UAE. “We had given them Rs 10 lakh cash, half kg gold and a Santro car but they harassed her from day one,” he added.
Singh went on to say that the Rawats would criticise Shobhana over everything, including the way she walked. Shobhana, a B.Com graduate from Shyama Prasad Mukherjee College in Delhi University, married Dhimant on February 15, 2004. The match was arranged by a family friend in Kanpur.
Shobhana’s school friend Varsha Sonany adds: “She was never allowed to talk to anyone and not allowed to go out alone. We met only once after her marriage but she used to share her worries with me only. She was in pain.” Varsha said Shobhana never complained to her parents as she did not want to embarrass them.
Shobhana’s family stays in Sector 6 at Bahadurgarh. Her brother Vikram is doing his graduation from Hansraj College in Delhi University while Shobhana was doing her M. Com from Himachal University. The Singhs belong to Jaunpur and live in a kothi on a 500 sq yards plot at Kavi Nagar. Dhimant and his sister Madhuri have studied from Delhi Public School, Ghaziabad.