Are You Aware Dowry Is Illegal? Nikki Bhati's Father's Chilling Response

Six decades after dowry was banned in India, a 28-year-old woman living less than an hour from national capital Delhi was burnt alive, allegedly by her husband and mother-in-law, over a demand of getting Rs 36 lakh from her parents as dowry.

NDTV spoke to Nikki Bhati's father Bhikari Singh Payla and asked him why he married her daughters into a family that asked for dowry. His reply summed up the gap between laws and reality. "In our clan, marriages happen through (dowry) mediators. And I had married off my daughter well. The wedding happened during demonetisation in 2016," he replied.

Mr Payla married off his daughters, Nikki and Kanchan, to brothers Vipin and Rohit on December 10, 2016. During the wedding, the family gifted a Scorpio SUV, cash and gold to their sons-in-law. But the demands increased over time and the latest was a massive sum of Rs 36 lakh. On Thursday evening, an argument broke out between Nikki and Vipin. He assaulted her and allegedly set her on fire with the help from his mother Daya. Vipin, his brother Rohit and parents Daya and Satyavir have been arrested.

Nikki's family has said that she, Kanchan and their children left their in-laws' home and went to their parents after Vipin assaulted her in February. But following a meeting between the two families and Vipin's apologies, the sisters returned. A repeat of this happened just a week back, on Janmasthami. Nikki's father and other relatives reached the Bhatis' place after she told them that she was thrashed again. Another compromise followed and Nikki stayed on.

Asked why he did not take Nikki to this place when he knew she was being tortured, Mr Payla said, "We need to listen to our samaj and clan members."

Demanding justice, he said, "I request Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to ensure they are hanged."

In a voice choking with tears, Mr Payla recounted the horror he lived on Thursday. "They burned her alive and the entire family fled. One of my daughters was burning, the other had fainted. And they all fled. A neighbour rushed my daughter to Fortis hospital. My elder daughter (Kanchan) called and told me, 'Papa, Nikki ko jala diya (they burnt Nikki). We reached the hospital, and the doctor told us she had suffered 70 per cent burns. She was referred to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi. We rushed her there in an ambulance. We crossed the gates, and she breathed her last. The doctor said nothing is left now. I have lost everything. I lost my daughter, what is left now?"

Nikki's seven-year-old son, who saw the traumatic sight of his mother burning alive, is now with her parents. "I will bring him up as well as I can. He cries every evening thinking of his mother. He keeps saying, 'They burnt my mother'. We try to comfort him." 

The family has said that Vipin and Rohit were unemployed and lived off their father's grocery shop. When Nikki and Kanchan opened a parlour and boutique business to become financially independent and fulfill their dreams for their children, the brothers started stealing from their earnings, their family has said. This led to frequent fights at home and on Thursday, one such fight ended with Nikki's brutal murder.