Pune IT engineer found dead in Mukundnagar flat; husband arrested, family alleges gold demands

A 29-year-old married IT professional, Payal Pawar-Zambre (also named in some accounts as Payal Akshay Zambare), was found dead in a flat in the Akshay Heights society in Mukundnagar, Pune, on Monday, November 2. Her husband, Akshay Zambre, has since been arrested by Swargate police. Her family has alleged long-running harassment over dowry and gold.

Payal was the daughter-in-law of the well-known Zambre Palace family. She worked at a reputed IT company. She married Akshay five years ago, and the couple have a four-year-old daughter. Her body was found hanging from a ceiling fan, and the police have said that suicide by hanging is suspected.

Her parents' side has refused to accept that she took her own life and suspects murder. According to preliminary police information, Payal had an argument with her mother-in-law on Sunday, November 1, and then left the house. A search began on Monday morning. While relatives were looking for her, she was found dead. The police are reported to have recovered no suicide note.

Swargate police reached the spot soon after being told. They took the body into custody, called in a forensic team and drew up a panchnama. The body was sent to Sassoon Hospital for a post-mortem. Officers are also going through CCTV footage from the building. They are examining the case from every angle to establish whether it was suicide or foul play, along with the domestic quarrel and the harassment allegations.

Payal's cousin, Janardan Pawar, made serious allegations against the in-laws. He said that every year since the wedding, they had demanded five to 10 tolas of gold around Diwali. This year, her parents' family could not pay because of their poor finances. Her family are farmers, and the area is facing drought. They asked for more time, saying, "Wait until next year, we will meet the demand." Pawar alleged that the in-laws kept up heavy pressure and that the harassment at home went on. The family says the demands were used to put mental pressure on Payal.

In the complaint, the family says Payal was harassed mentally and physically from the time of the marriage, and that her husband, mother-in-law and father-in-law, as well as her sister-in-law, demanded gold along with money.

After news of the death spread, angry relatives vandalised Zambre Palace. The police have registered a case under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against Akshay, his mother Mangal Arvind Zambre, his father Arvind Zambre and his sister Akshata. Only the police investigation will show how much truth lies in the allegations. Attention now turns to the post-mortem report and the forensic findings.