Woman found dead in Liluah; husband, in-laws missing

A 24-year-old woman was allegedly killed by her husband and in-laws in Howrah district’s Liluah late Sunday night.

Some of the neighbours of the family reportedly found the victim’s body nearby her thatched house. They called up the police, who took the body for post-mortem examination.

The accused family, meanwhile, locked up their house and are missing.Police said Shipra Kole, the 24-year-old victim, was strangled to death. Her husband Raju Kole is the main accused, according to the investigators. Raju is currently at large, along with his father Ashok Kole.

“We have initiated a case. It is probably a murder for dowry. Her husband was torturing the victim for money. He wanted her to bring the money from her parents,” said an investigating officer.

Shipra, a B.Ed final year student, had not gone to her college for some weeks. The professors at her college, who stated that Shipra was a meritorious student, had doubts about her in-laws life.

The teachers informed police that she was often beaten up and they even saw bruises in her body.

When asked, Shipra used to break into her tears and say that her husband beat her for dowry.

The neighbours, who gave some inputs to the police about the relationship of the couple, said Raju used to torture Shipra and that they had often heard her screams in the night.

“Raju used to beat her, force her into her permission. Shipra parents often came here to settle the matter, but the torture continued even after that,” one of the neighbours alleged.

Shipra’s elder sister Soma claimed that Raju and his father Tapan wanted Rs one lakh from her family.

She informed the matter to her father, “but he could not arrange that money. It was impossible 

for us. Raju killed my sister,” Soma said.

The family of the deceased have lodged complaint with the local police station.

On the basis of the complaint, when police had reached the house of Shipra’s in-laws, they found it to be locked from outside and Raju and his family missing.

A search for the accused in ongoing.