Hyderabad: They may be VIPs, celebrities
and high-profile people but their kin are not immune to the
malice called dowry as some of the recent cases in Andhra
Pradesh suggest.
Union Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy's niece Kiran
Reddy was murdered allegedly by her husband Chaitanya Reddy in
Hyderabad recently and police investigation shows that "dowry
and other benefits" was one of the reasons behind it.
Secunderabad MP Anjan Kumar Yadav's niece Mayuri too
died under mysterious circumstances and preliminary
investigation by police indicated that she was done to death
for dowry.
Telugu Megastar Chiranjeevi's daughter Srija, who
eloped with her lover Sirish Bharadwaj in 2007 and married
him, has now filed a police case against her husband and
in-laws alleging that she was being harassed for more dowry.
More than two months after the case was registered,
police were yet to lay their hands on Sirish, the main accused
in the case.
Popular Telugu actress of yesteryears Jamuna's
daughter Sravanthi is fighting a legal battle with her husband
Rahul for divorce alleging "torture" for dowry.
"These are some of the high-profile cases that hit the
headlines in recent days. Nothing but the lust for money seems
to be the cause behind these cases," a top police officer
observed.
Chaitanya Reddy allegedly forced his in-laws to give
him Rs 15 lakh in cash a couple of months ago. After that he
allegedly started pestering his wife Kiran to sell away a
prime plot of land in the posh Jubilee Hills area, which was
in her name, and even negotiated with some brokers to finalise
a deal. Kiran, however, refused to sign the deal.
Subsequently, Chaitanya allegedly began harassing
Kiran to get a petrol bunk sanctioned in his name using the
offices of Jaipal Reddy. "She refused to oblige even in this
case and this left Chaitanya frustrated. The murder was
apparently a fallout of this," a police officer involved with
the investigation of this high-profile case said.
In Mayuri's case too the demand for more dowry was
suspected to be the reason behind her death, police said.
"At the time of marriage five years ago, Mayuri's
parents gave the groom Rs 20 lakh in cash and some gold but he
wanted more," an investigating officer claimed.
Chiranjeevi's daughter Srija apparently held immovable
property worth several crores of rupees besides bank deposits
in her name when she eloped.
Four years down the line, Srija rushed to police
alleging that she was being tortured by her husband and
in-laws for money. The city police failed to crack the case
though they interrogated Sirish's parents. They could not even
track Sirish even as the Supreme Court rejected his
anticipatory bail plea.
"We are still on his hunt," was the only answer a
police official of the Hyderabad Central Crime Station,
investigating the case, would give when questioned about
Sirish.
PTI
First Published: Friday, July 01, 2011, 19:54