Bangladesh News

A housewife died of burns at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) in the early hours yesterday, nine days after her husband and in-laws allegedly set her on fire as her family refused to give dowry.

Rupa Begum, 22, wife of Manik Bepari, a mason at Shariatpur, and daughter of Abdul Mobin Bepari of Keraniganj, Dhaka, breathed her last at 12:30am. Doctors said ninety percent of Rupa’ body was burnt.

Quoting neighbours, her elder brother Mohammad Shahin told The Daily Star she locked in an argument with Manik on February 22. That afternoon, Manik and his family members set her on fire at 4:00, he claimed.

Neighbours rushed her to Bhedorganj Thana Health Complex from where she was transferred to DMCH Burn Unit on February 25.

Shahin said Rupa got married to Manik in 2003 and gave birth to a son three years ago. But her in-laws were always putting pressure on her for dowry.

“We gave him Tk 50,000 in cash, gold ornaments and furniture worth Tk 1 lakh as per their demand,” he said.

But after six months they again demanded Tk 1 lakh for sending Manik to Saudi Arabia and often tortured Rupa for the money.

At one stage, Rupa’s father took her to Dhaka where she filed a case with a Dhaka court under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act two years ago.

Fearing punishment, Manik’s family assured her of not demanding dowry and brought her back to Shariatpur six months ago, Shahin added.

But Manik tortured her for dowry in the last three months and their grievance exploded on February 22, he said. Manik’s family told them the fire erupted from an oil lamp but they informed the matter one day after the incident.

Shahin went on to say that his sister’s in-laws threatened her not to tell the incident to anyone assuring her of better treatment. They also assured her that they would look after her son Mehedi, he added.