Times of India
BANGALORE, May 1: Preeti Biyani, 29, was married on February 28 in Maharashtra. It was a dream wedding. Two months on, her dreams were shattered. She was found hanging in the bedroom of her Kaggadasapura home on Tuesday.
Her family members allege she committed suicide because of dowry harassment.
Preeti, daughter of Rajgopal Madanlal Biyani, a businessman from Latur, Maharashtra, passed BE architecture last year. She was married to Naveen Mantri, a software engineer and son of Bipinchandra Mantri, a Nanded district magistrate. from Nanded in Maharashtra. The couple shifted to Bangalore, where Naveen works in a software multinational.
Naveen went to work as usual on Tuesday. when he returned around 8 pm, he found Preeti hanging. She had used her dupatta. Naveen took down the body.
A case of unnatural death was registered on Wednesday. But her family alleges that Preeti committed suicide because the Mantris harassed her for dowry, and lodged a case.
The Mahadevapura police arrested Naveen on Thursday, based on the complaint of Preeti’s relatives. They are also looking at provisions to arrest the magistrate and his wife, who have obtained transit bail from a court in Nanded.
Sandeep, a close relative of Preeti, said the marriage, held at Latur, was a lavish affair. The Biyanis had spent about Rs 20 lakh, given Rs 12 lakh to the Mantris, besides Rs 5 lakh worth of clothes for the entire family. He said Preeti’s parents had given an additional Rs 2.7 lakh to the groom’s father by demand draft.
Though the police found a suicide note which said “nobody is responsible for my death’’, the family members allege it is not Preeti’s handwriting. At first, they were not informed about the suicide. Naveen’s family members did not bother to visit them till a complaint was lodged, they alleged.
Rajgopal Biyani claims his daughter - who was frequently harassed for Rs 25 lakh to buy an apartment in Bangalore - was fed up with the mental torture.
The post-mortem was done at the Bowring Hospital, and the body taken to Latur on Thursday evening. The police said they would ascertain if the suicide note is genuine.