Dowry death: Reels, beauty parlour led to fight, say cops

Vipin Bhati, a 28-year-old man who lives in Kasna of Greater Noida, allegedly set his wife, Nikki Bhati, 28, afire at their home on August 21 due to an altercation over her posting reels on Instagram and wanting to reopen a beauty parlour she used to run, police said on Sunday, after interrogating the accused.

- Arun Singh

He also said that he had “no remorse” for the incident, according to the police.

Earlier in the day, police were taking Vipin to recover flammable material that he used to set the victim afire, when he tried to give them the slip and was shot in the leg, police said.

“The suspect, Bhati, snatched a police pistol in an attempt to escape. In retaliatory fire, he suffered a bullet injury to his legs and was taken to a nearby hospital for medical treatment,” said Greater Noida additional deputy commissioner of police Sudhir Kumar, adding that late in the evening, Nikki's mother-in-law, Daya Bhati, 55, was also arrested.

The family members of the deceased woman alleged that Vipin and his family killed Nikki over dowry demands. However, police said that they are investigating the case from all angles, as they were married around eight-and-a-half years ago.

On August 21, Nikki was declared dead at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital, as she had suffered severe burn injuries.

The trigger of the fight

Police said that on August 21, Nikki was demanding to reopen her beauty parlour, which triggered a fight between her and Vipin.

“Investigation revealed that around 3.30pm, Nikki told Vipin that she and her sister would reopen the parlour. When he refused, Nikki said that no one could stop them from reopening,” Kasna station house officer Dharmendra Shukla said.

“Vipin told her that in their family, posting reels on Instagram and running a parlour were not allowed. The issue turned ugly, and he started assaulting her,” Shukla said.