Newly-married bride murdered after father failed to give dowry in new currency

Bhubaneswar:  A newly-married woman was killed by her in-laws in Odisha’s Ganjam district as her father failed to give dowry of Rs 1.70 lakh in new currency, the state police said on Monday.

The police said Prabhati of Rangipur village married Laxmi Nahak of the same village on November 9, a day after the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.

Her family had earlier agreed to give Rs 1.70 lakh in cash as dowry. However, when her family offered the money in old demonetised notes on the marriage day, the groom’s family refused to accept the money and instead demanded new notes within stipulated time.

Prabhati’s parents said her in-laws killed her on Sunday as they did not get the new notes in dowry, the police said.

“Her husband and his family killed our daughter just because we were unable to provide the new notes. I want them to be punished,” said her mother Kunu Mandal.

Inspector Alok Jena, who heads the Golanthara police station, said a case of dowry death has been registered.