Pune: Payal's parents-in-law arrested after husband sent to custody in dowry death case

Swargate police in Pune have arrested the parents-in-law of Payal, a 29-year-old woman who was found dead in the Mukundnagar area, taking the investigation into her death a step further. The couple had been on the run since a case was registered after her death. Police say they intensified the search and finally took both into custody.

The arrested are the father-in-law, Arvind, and the mother-in-law, named in the filings as Mangal or Mangala. The family name is spelt Jhambare in some accounts and Zambre in another, and Payal is also referred to as Payal Pawar-Zambre. Her husband, Akshay, had been arrested two days earlier. Police describe him as the main accused. He was produced before the Shivajinagar court, which sent him to police custody for four days. With both his parents now held, officials expect more details of the case to come out.

Payal's body was found on Monday, November 2, in a flat in the Akshay Heights housing society in Mukundnagar. Police say that, according to initial information, she had a quarrel with her mother-in-law on Sunday, November 1, and left the house in the evening. One account says the search for her began on Monday morning, and another says her family began looking after receiving a call from her in-laws. While the family and relatives were searching, she was found dead. Police reached the spot, took the body into custody and sent it to Sassoon Hospital for a post-mortem. Police are reported to have found no suicide note. Suicide was suspected at first, but relatives say they suspect foul play.

Her family alleges that she hanged herself on November 1 because of dowry demands and continuous physical and mental torture. They say that before her death Payal sent her brother a message saying, "My mother-in-law is responsible". She is also said to have told him that her in-laws were demanding five tola of gold for Diwali.

A case was registered at Swargate police station against the husband, both parents-in-law and the sister-in-law, named as Akshata, under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. One report describes the case as one of dowry death and abetment of suicide, while another says it covers dowry harassment and other offences.

The family alleges that Payal was harassed from the time of the marriage. They say her husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law and sister-in-law wanted gold along with money, and that she was asked every year around Diwali to bring five to 10 tola of gold from her parents' home. The same demand was made this year, they say. Payal's family are farmers, and with drought conditions leaving them short of money, they asked for time until the next season. The family alleges that the harassment and pressure did not stop.

On what was given at the wedding, the accounts differ. Deputy Commissioner of Police Milind Mohite said Payal's family gave 50 tola of gold and Rs 25 lakh in cash when she married Akshay in 2019. Separately, the family has told police that the wedding cost them Rs 70 lakh to Rs 80 lakh, and that the in-laws were still not satisfied.

The family also alleges that Payal was harassed during her pregnancy in 2022 because her husband and in-laws wanted a son. She gave birth to a daughter on March 30, 2023. The family claims the in-laws then created a commotion at the hospital and refused to take responsibility for Payal or the child.

Payal had an MSc in computer science and worked at an IT company. Relatives allege that although a promotion was close, her in-laws pressed her to give up her job and look after the household.

Police say they are examining all these allegations, including the circumstances before her death and the alleged dowry demand. The truth of the claims will become clear only through the investigation.