HYDERABAD: Thirteen days after radio jockey (RJ) Sandhya Singh was
found hanging at the Army Quarters in Bolarum , police finally managed to arrest her husband, an Indian Army Major, on Wednesday. The officer was produced in a local court, which sent him to 14-day judicial remand.
On April 18, police booked a case against Major Vaibhav Vishal, 30, currently posted at Army's 54th Infantry Division in Secunderabad, following the suicide of his wife, Sandhya Singh, 30, at his quarters (5261) of Vaibhav at New Allenby Lines, RSI Club, Bolarum. He was charged under sections 304-B (
dowry death
) and the SC &S T (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Sandhya's sister, Uma Singh, a station master at the Ghaziabad railway station, had lodged a complaint with police. “According to the complainant, Sandhya ended her life due to dowry harassment by Vaibhav Vishal, his mother Asha Singh and his sister Khushi alias Megha Rai,“ DCP , North Zone, B Sumathi said.
However, police could not record the statement of the Major immediately as he remained in the Army area. “We were informed by Army officials that the accused is currently admitted in ICU of the Army Hospital. We have informed the concerned local court,“ the DCP told TOI.
At 10 am on Wednesday, military officials informed police that Major Vaibhav Vishal was fit for duty and he would be handed over to the Bolarum inspector. “We have taken Vaibhav Vishal into custody and arrested him at noon. He was produced before court and sent to 14-day judicial remand,“ ACP S Ranga Rao, who is the investi gating officer in the case, said.
Narrating sequence of events, the ACP said they received an alert from military officials around 3.15 am on April18, about the suicide of Sandhya.“The Army officials informed us they shifted Sandhya, who was found hanging in her house to the Army Hospital, where she was declared brought dead.We immediately went to Army Hospital and shifted the body for post-mortem to
Gandhi Hospital
,“ the ACP added.
Deputy tehsildar Saba Sultana conducted the inquest and she mentioned in the report that the victim was last seen alive by her husband Vaibhav on April 17 at 10 pm at their house.
The inquest report also mentioned that Sandhya was found dead by Colonel J J Lobo, a neighbour of the victim, at her house on April 18 at 3 am.Lobo later told police that he was informed about the death by Sandhya's husband.
Talking to TOI, the RJ's sister Uma Singh alleged that Vaibhav and his family started harassing Sandhya soon after the `love marriage'.
Sandhya and Vaibhav came in contact through a matrimo nial site and the families met in Ghaziabad to fix the wedding in 2015. “In the meeting, the family members of Vaibhav demanded `20 lakh dowry . We refused to give dowry and they left the place. Subsequently, Vaibhav and Sandhya fell in love and had an Arya Samaj wedding on September 22, 2015, without informing their families,“ Uma told TOI.
Prior to the wedding, Sandhya would work as a journalist with ` Amar Ujala' newspaper in Ghaziabad and she also used to RJ at a local FM channel. After the wedding, Vaibhav and Sandhya went to stay with his family at Gorakhpur. “Vaibhav subsequently returned to his post at Siachen and the in-laws started harassing Sandhya.They kept on pestering her to get our parents house at Ghaziabad as dowry . Unable to put up with the harassment, Sandhya returned to Ghaziabad and we even approached military officials when Vaibhav wanted a divorce. The couple was counselled by military officials and Vaibhav was transferred from Siachen to Hyderabad in November 2016,“ Uma said.
Uma's family thought that everything would be fine after the couple shifted to Hyderabad. According to police, the death was due to hanging.
“The PME report from Gandhi Hospital confirmed that the cause of death was asphyxiation due to hanging. There was no suicide note, but we have evidence that Sandhya was being harassed for additional dowry by her husband and in-laws,“ the ACP added. Police have launched a manhunt to nab Vaibhav's mother, Dr Asha Singh, 62, a gynaecologist, and his sister Khushi, 29, an employee of HDFC Insurance.
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