A Dalit woman in Noida has accused her in-laws of constant harassment after she married a man from an upper-caste family. The woman said her brother-in-law misbehaved with her and casteist slurs were repeatedly used against her. She also alleged that her in-laws beat her and eventually forced her out of the house. She has filed a police complaint against nine members of the family at Sector-20 police station.
Sector-20 SHO D.P. Shukla said the woman reported that she married Bharat Sharma, son of Ravindra Sharma of Nithari village, on 5 February 2018 under Hindu rituals. According to her, her family spent around ₹25 lakh on the wedding, including jewellery and other items. She said it was an inter-caste love marriage, and from the very beginning her in-laws started demanding ₹50 lakh as dowry. The woman claimed she was repeatedly taunted for belonging to a “lower caste”.
She said her in-laws openly insulted her by calling her caste names and would often tell her husband that he had brought home a girl from a “low caste”. She also alleged that one of her brothers-in-law refused to eat food cooked by her. According to the complaint, her husband began drinking heavily because he was disturbed by the constant harassment she faced. He later left her at her parental home, telling her to stay there until his family changed their behaviour.
The woman said she gave birth to a child, but even then the harassment from her in-laws did not stop. She alleged that her elder brother-in-law molested her and she had earlier gone to the police with this complaint. When the matter reached the police station, she claims the accused family filed false allegations against her and her husband.
According to the SHO, the woman has now filed an FIR against her father-in-law Ravindra Sharma, mother-in-law Rajrani Sharma, brothers-in-law Chandrakant Sharma and Sunil Sharma, a relative from her aunt-in-law’s side, her younger sister-in-law Renu, her younger brother-in-law Ram Sewak Sharma, her sister-in-law Sarika Sharma and her brother-in-law Gajendra Sharma. The charges include molestation, dowry harassment, assault, domestic violence and offences under the SC/ST Act. Police are investigating the case.
