A woman on fire was seen limping down a flight of stairs in a haunting video captured hours before she died on her way to a hospital in Delhi on Thursday. Her young son witnessed the horror when she was tortured and set on fire by his father and his grandmother.
"They first put something on mumma. Then they slapped her before setting her on fire using a lighter," said the little boy, fighting back tears.
He nodded when someone asked him if his father killed her.
The woman, identified as Nikki, was killed for dowry, nine years after she married Vipin Bhati - a resident of Greater Noida's Sirsa.
Her elder sister Kanchan, who was married in the same family, claimed Nikki was burnt alive in front of her eyes as she failed to get them Rs 36 lakh in dowry. She claimed that her in-laws assaulted her as well for dowry.
"We were being tortured, our in-laws would tell us they did not get this or that during the wedding. They asked us to get Rs 36 lakh from our home. I was also assaulted between 1.30 am and 4 am on Thursday. They told me, 'We have got dowry for one, what about the other? You are better off dead. We will marry again," said Kanchan.
She said that she tried to save Nikki but could not. "I want them to suffer the way they made my sister suffer," she said.
A video showed the victim's husband and her mother-in-law pulling her by her hair and thrashing her. Another video shows her sitting on the floor with severe burn injuries on her body.
She was taken to Fortis Hospital with the help of her neighbours. She was referred to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi. But she died on the way.
On the complaint of her sister, a case has been registered in Kasna police station against the victim's husband, brother-in-law Rohit Bhati, mother-in-law Daya, and father-in-law Satveer. Her husband has been arrested while police are looking for the other accused.
A large number of people gathered outside Kasna police station demanding justice for Nikki. They were seen carrying placards with 'Justice for Nikki' written on them.
