New Delhi, Jul 6 (PTI): A 28-year-old newlywed Delhi woman, whose husband was arrested in connection with her alleged dowry death on Monday, had hoped that returning to work would help her gradually put an end to the taunts she faced at her matrimonial home, her brother said.
However, she hid much of the abuse until a day before her death, hoping that things would eventually improve, Amay Sutar, younger brother of Akriti Sutar, said.
According to him, Akriti believed that if she kept earning, saved enough money and gradually bought the household items over which she was allegedly taunted after her marriage, the harassment would eventually stop.
Instead of burdening a family still recovering financially after her father died in 2019, she hoped to deal with it herself.
Akriti married Arastu Sikka on April 24 after a two-year relationship. She had resumed work as a sales executive at a private company in Chhatarpur on July 1 after taking a break for her wedding, her brother said.
Four days later, she was found dead after allegedly falling from the third floor of a building in Lodhi Colony.
Amay told PTI that the family’s financial struggles had shaped many of her decisions.
Their father died of cancer seven years ago after prolonged treatment left the family in debt.
Amay said that Akriti devoted herself to supporting the family after their father passed away with one goal — to ensure he becomes financially independent.
“After my father passed away, she did a lot for me. Her only dream was to see me settled,” Amay said.
That, he said, was also why she insisted on continuing her job after marriage.
According to the Akriti’s family, Sikka’s family had agreed before the wedding that she would continue working. But soon after the marriage, they allegedly changed their position, telling her there had never been any agreement allowing her to have a job.
Amay alleged that she was repeatedly taunted for not bringing enough household items from her parental home.
“They would say she hadn’t brought even basic things like a bed, sofa, wardrobe, fridge or air-conditioner,” he said, adding that Arastu’s family indirectly demanded Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.
Rather than asking her own family to fulfil those demands, Akriti believed she could solve the problem herself, her brother said.
“She told me, ‘You have just become financially stable. Don’t burden yourself. I will keep working and slowly manage everything myself. Maybe then they will stop saying these things,” Amay recalled.
He suspected that this was why she kept much of the alleged abuse to herself.
The family initially believed the couple was going through ordinary marital disagreements.
“When Akriti complained about being slapped once, our families intervened and attempted a reconciliation, hoping the situation would improve,” Amay said.
It was only on July 3, he said, that she revealed the full extent of the alleged physical abuse, threats and repeated harassment she had endured over the previous weeks.
Looking back, he believes there were signs they failed to understand the situation completely.
“She became quieter after marriage. We thought she was just exhausted and settling in the new environment. Whenever we asked, she would simply say everything is alright,” he said.
Friends who had known Akriti since childhood had also noticed a change in her expressions, though she rarely discussed her problems directly with them, he added.
Investigators are examining a Google search for “how to die easily” recovered from Akriti’s phone history.
Amay, however, claimed that his brother-in-law exercised complete control over his sister’s phone.
“He used to check everything. Even if her password changed accidentally, he would accuse her of having an affair, abuse her and beat her,” he alleged.
Amay also said his unease about Sikka’s behaviour had begun much earlier, though not because of any major incident.
Instead, he recalled what he described as an unusual tendency to take offence over trivial matters.
“If I forgot to greet him once, he would complain to my sister about it and make it into an issue. I used to think if someone could react like that over such a small thing, what must he be like inside the house,” he said.
According to the family, the alleged controlling behaviour extended to Akriti’s interactions with her own relatives.
Amay alleged that Sikka objected to her speaking to her mother and brother over the phone and routinely questioned her over even minor changes to her mobile phone.
Amay also alleged that after Akriti informed her family about the abuse, Sikka threatened to have him assaulted and get him dismissed from his job if she continued discussing their marital problems with her family.
On July 4, Akriti left office but never reached home. When repeated calls to her phone went unanswered, the family began searching for her. Later that night, a police officer answered a call made to her mobile phone and informed them that she had been admitted to hospital after allegedly falling from the third floor of an NDMC residential complex in Lodhi Colony.
Police have arrested Sikka under provisions relating to dowry death and cruelty by husband or relatives.
Investigators are examining CCTV footage, call records, phone data and other digital evidence to establish the circumstances leading to Akriti’s death, while the role of other family members remains under investigation. PTI MSJ BM KSI KSI
(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)
