A newlywed woman has been allegedly murdered over dowry demands in Barasat. The accused, Soumya Dutta, husband of the deceased Sunita Sarkar (23), was arrested on Thursday. However, members of Sunita's family have raised questions about why police officer father-in-law Sujoy Dutta and mother-in-law Madhuchanda Sarkar have not been arrested. Demanding justice, angry residents vandalized the accused Soumya's house on Friday afternoon. Protests continue with the siege of Barasat police station. Anger surrounding the incident has begun to escalate further.
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On this day, people from Sunita's paternal neighborhood had organized a protest march. Sunita had been married in the neighboring area of Ashwini Palli. Tension arose when the procession reached in front of the accused in-laws' house. Some people vandalized in front of the house, with allegations of indiscriminate brick throwing. After this, the procession gathered in front of Barasat police station. Protests continued with the siege of the station.
One among the protesters said, "Is he being shielded because the boy's father is a police officer? Why aren't the father-in-law and mother-in-law being arrested? The girl had to endure unspeakable torture at her in-laws' house. She has been killed. We want everyone arrested. We want justice." The protest continued by blocking the road in front of Barasat police station.
Later, though the blockade was lifted following police intervention, people from Sunita's neighborhood sat in demonstration in front of the station. Subsequently, five people including the deceased's family entered the station. Their written complaint was submitted to Barasat police station. When local councilor Barun Bhattacharya was contacted regarding the matter, he gave no response, saying he was unwell. On the other hand, regarding Friday's tension in front of Barasat police station, municipality chairman Sunil Mukhopadhyay said, "I don't know about this matter. I am looking into the missing aspect of this issue."
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Notably, Sunita Sarkar, a resident of Shaktinagar Amtala area in ward number 27 of Barasat municipality, was married four months ago to Soumya Dutta, a resident of Ashwinipalli. Soumya runs a readymade garments business. Sunita's family alleges that Soumya's family had been demanding money for the business for a long time. Some money had been given. Later, pressure increased to bring more money. There are also allegations that the girl was tortured at her in-laws' house. On Wednesday night, it was reported from Sunita's in-laws' house that she had fallen ill. When people from Sunita's paternal home went there and took her to the hospital, she was declared dead.
