Two women were recently driven out of their houses after their in-laws tortured them over dowry in Rautahat. Nineteen-year-old Pratima Shah of Gehaguthi in Garuda municipality had married 25-year-old Bishwash Shah of Mithuawa about 10 months ago. The bride’s family had provided a dowry of Rs 3 lakh plus a motorbike as demanded by the groom’s side. However, within a couple of months, Bishwash’s family started torturing Pratima demanding additional dowry. “Everything was going fine in the beginning as we had given them whatever they had demanded. But they soon started torturing Pratima for the additional dowry of Rs 15,000 and a buffalo,” said Bisun Dayal, the victim’s father, adding that they had inflicted physical and mental torture on Pratima. According to Dayal, he had spent Rs 65,000 on the treatment of his daughter at a health facility in the capital almost a month ago. “I sent her to her husband’s house after treatment, but they didn’t stop torturing her,” he said. Pratima’s family finally decided to end the suffering and knocked on the door of women and children service office seeking justice. Following the case, police have arrested her husband and his family.

Likewise, 16-year-old Punam Thakur of Nayan Basti, Chandrapur municipality-11, was also subjected to mental torture and sustained burn injury on several parts of her body for dowry. Punam has married off to Muktikant Thakur of Dewahi VDC around 10 months ago. Punam’s family, too, had given Rs 4 lakh as dowry. Her in-laws started torturing her demanding a TV and a sewing machine within a couple of months. After she failed to fulfil their demand, her mother-in-law Sharada Devi and other family members Murti Kumari, Nidhi Kumari, Sushila Kumari and Mamata Kumari drove her away from the house four days ago. Following the incident, Nepali Thakur, Punam’s father, approached the women and children service centre seeking justice for his daughter today. DSP Bhim Prasad Dhakal informed that his office had deployed police to detain the perpetrators in both cases.