Bhubaneswar, Mar 14: Mystery shrouded over the death of a woman after she was found dead on her first wedding anniversary in Balipatna area on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.
The deceased has been identified as Swagatika Swain, wife of Yashobanta Pradhan, and the incident has been reported from Chandipada under Balipatna police limits.
According to reports, Swagatika and her in-laws celebrated her first wedding anniversary last night. However, she was later found dead.
Though Swagatika’s in-laws claimed that she committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan, her parents alleged that she has been murdered over dowry and lodged a complaint with Balipatna police.
Based on the complaint, police detained Yashobanta for questioning and launched a probe into the matter.
Sources said Swagatika got married to Yashobanta on March 12 last year. Her family reportedly gave a dowry worth around Rs 15 lakh. However, after a few months, her in-laws allegedly started demanding more dowry and mistreated her both physically and mentally.
At one point, Yashobanta allegedly assaulted Swagatika and sent her back to her parents' home. After mediation between both families, she returned to her in-laws' house.
On the night of her wedding anniversary, Swagatika’s family also joined the celebration. After dinner, her father and brother left for their home in Nimapada. Later that night, neighbors called her brother to inform him about her death.
When her family arrived at her in-laws' house, they found Swagatika’s body lying on the floor. Her father immediately called the police, who came to the scene and took the body for a post-mortem.
