Pune woman, 34, found hanging in Mukundnagar; husband, in-laws booked over dowry harassment

The death of a 34-year-old married woman in Pune's Mukundnagar, regarded as an upscale part of the city, has shocked residents. Payal Zambare died by suicide by hanging, driven to despair by continuous dowry demands and mental harassment by her in-laws. Police inquiries have found that she was being harassed over a demand that she bring 10 tolas of gold from her parents' home at Diwali. Swargate police have registered a case against Payal's husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law and sister-in-law.

Payal's brother, Rishikesh Pawar, has filed the complaint with the police. According to it, Payal was married to Akshay Arvind Zambare on March 13, 2019, in a Hindu ceremony. The complaint says her family gave 50 tolas of gold and Rs 25 lakh in cash, beyond their means. The dowry is put at Rs 70 lakh to Rs 80 lakh in all. It is alleged that the in-laws' attitude changed within a few months of the wedding. According to the complaint, her mother-in-law, Mangal Zambare, and her husband, Akshay, mentally and physically harassed Payal at every festival to make her bring money and gold from her parents' home.

The complaint also refers to the period after the birth of her daughter. Payal gave birth to a daughter on March 30, 2023. It is alleged that her in-laws, who wanted a boy, came to the hospital and began quarrelling. They left saying, "We wanted a boy, how did you have a girl, we will not take care of this girl." Even after that, Payal had to keep hearing taunts and abuse for having a daughter, the complaint says.

On November 1, 2026, the day of the incident, Payal had returned to her in-laws' house from her parents' home. At 9.18 pm she sent her brother Rishikesh a text message from her mobile phone. It clearly said, "My mother-in-law is responsible." Alarmed by the message, her brother immediately phoned Payal, but she did not pick up. He then called Payal's husband. According to the complaint, the husband gave evasive answers in a brusque tone and cut the call, saying, "Don't get into a domestic quarrel."

Payal's family kept trying to reach her in-laws until late at night, but all their phones were switched off. In the morning the in-laws phoned to say Payal had not come home. Suspicious, her family went to the in-laws' home at Zambare Palace in Mukundnagar. When they asked questions there, no one would tell them anything. Finally, her husband Akshay said Payal might be in the old flat opposite.

The main door was bolted from inside. The complainant brother therefore broke the glass of the rear gallery door and went in. In the kitchen he saw Payal hanging by a rope from a hook in the ceiling. She was rushed to Sassoon Hospital for treatment, but doctors declared her dead before treatment could begin. Swargate police have registered a case against all four of her in-laws for dowry harassment and abetment of suicide. Police are investigating the matter thoroughly.