Pune: Payal Jhambare's in-laws held, husband in police custody for four days over her death

Swargate police have arrested the parents-in-law of Payal Jhambare, who was found dead in Pune's Mukundnagar area. The two had been absconding since the case was registered. The arrested are Arvind Jhambare (father-in-law) and Mangal Jhambare (mother-in-law).

Police had arrested her husband, Akshay Jhambare, two days earlier. He was produced in the Shivajinagar court, which sent him to police custody for four days. With the parents-in-law now in custody, it is expected that some important information will emerge in the case.

Payal's family alleges that she hanged herself on November 1, driven to despair by dowry demands and continuous physical and mental torture. According to the family, Payal sent her brother a message before her death saying "My mother-in-law is responsible". A case was then registered at Swargate police station against her husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law and sister-in-law. Both parents-in-law absconded as soon as the case was registered. Police stepped up the search and took both into custody.

Her body was found on Monday, November 2, in a flat in the Akshay Heights society in Mukundnagar. Suicide was suspected in the initial information. Swargate police reached the spot on receiving the news, took the body into custody and sent it to Sassoon Hospital for a post-mortem. After learning of Payal's death, her family made serious allegations against her in-laws. Relatives suspect that it may not be suicide but foul play.

According to the complaint by Payal's family, she had been subjected to continuous mental and physical suffering at her in-laws' home since the marriage. It is alleged that her husband Akshay, mother-in-law, father-in-law and sister-in-law demanded gold along with money. Relatives allege that she was asked every year around Diwali to bring five to ten tolas of gold from her parents' home, and the same demand was made this year. The complaint claims her family said they were unable to meet the demand because of financial hardship. Payal's family are farmers and, citing drought conditions, had asked for time until the next season, but the harassment and pressure did not stop, the family alleges. The truth of all these allegations will become clear only through the police investigation.

On what happened before her death, police say initial information is that Payal had a quarrel with her mother-in-law on Sunday, November 1, after which she left the house. A search for her began on the morning of Monday, November 2. While family and relatives were looking for her, she was found dead in a flat in the Akshay Heights society in Mukundnagar. Police are reported to have found no suicide note at the spot. The exact circumstances behind the death, the domestic quarrel and the allegations of torture are therefore being investigated.

Police have arrested her husband, Akshay Jhambare. A case has been registered against Akshay, his mother Mangal Arvind Jhambare, his father Arvind Jhambare and his sister Akshata under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.