Nagpur: A day after 21-year-old Chaitali Kambadi was found hanging at her in-laws’ home in Takalghat, her father Ramdas Meghre alleged that his daughter was murdered and did not die by suicide as initially claimed.Meghre, a resident of Shekhapur Bai in Hinganghat tehsil of Wardha district, has accused Chaitali’s husband, Manoj Kambadi, and his mother Ratnamala of repeated harassment and demands for dowry since the day of the wedding.According to Meghre, Chaitali was married to Manoj on April 16, 2024. He claimed to have given several household items as dowry, including a fridge, bed, cooler, cupboard, and mirror. However, the very next day, Manoj called him, angrily complaining that a mattress was missing. Meghre said he later delivered the mattress during the wedding reception. Over the following months, the in-laws allegedly continued to demand additional items, including ₹50,000 cash, and pressured him to buy clothes and other goods.Speaking to the press on Thursday, Meghre detailed several alleged instances of emotional abuse and humiliation, including an incident wherein Manoj threw money on road and insulted him. He said, “On another occasion, when I brought Chaitali home, Manoj stormed into our house late at night, threatened us, and demanded to take his wife back, saying ‘I’ll take my wife or kill her — you have no right to stop me’.”Chaitali, who was struggling with health issues, including menstrual complications, was also being harassed for not conceiving, Meghre alleged. He added Chaitali had been barred from visiting her parental home on festivals and that even when relatives went to meet her, they were treated poorly.Meghre said on June 15, Chaitali spoke to him around 10pm and confided that she was being verbally abused again. “The next morning, Chaitali called her brother Ganesh, saying she wanted to come home. But later that day, at around 5:30pm, the family was informed Chaitali had died by suicide,” he said.Meghre suspects foul play, pointing out inconsistencies in the physical evidence. He questioned how Chaitali, who was 5.1ft tall, could have hung herself from a window without displacing the stool found beneath her. He also said there were visible injury marks and signs of blood clotting on her body, indicating possible assault.While police say prima facie evidence suggests suicide, Meghre has demanded that both Manoj and Ratnamala be arrested. A postmortem report is awaited to determine the exact cause of death. The police have registered a case under Section 80 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 3 of Dowry Prohibition Act. Further investigation is on.
