The father of 20-year-old Preeti, who was murdered by husband Hardip Kumar Kurmi and distant cousin Sanju Patel on January 3, has told police that his daughter was being harassed for dowry by her in-laws since her marriage. However, Kurmi had confessed to murdering Preeti saying he wanted to get rid of ‘a forced marriage’.

Meanwhile, the police have arrested Kurmi’s father Fulchand (65), mother Kishoridevi (55) and elder brother Ranjit (28) last week for causing Preeti’s death due to dowry harassment.

Kurmi and Preeti had been married for two years. On January 3, Kurmi and Patel took Preeti to a flat in Mumbra where they strangulated her, put her body in a gunny sack and threw it into the Mumbra creek. On January 16, Kurmi walked into Antop Hill police station and confessed to his crime.

“After Kurmi’s confession, we arrested him and Patel for the murder. But while we were taking Preeti’s father’s statement, we learnt that Kurmi’s family had begun harassing Preeti for dowry soon after the marriage. They were reportedly demanding a flat in Bhayander or Rs 1 lakh in cash from Preeti’s parents. When Preeti’s parents failed to fulfill their demands, Preeti was sent back to her parents’ house where she stayed for a year. A couple of months before her death, Kurmi had brought her back to his house,” said police inspector Ashok Naik from Antop Hill police station.

“Kurmi’s family members are fruit-sellers by profession and have denied harassing Preeti. However, we are interrogating them further and besides murder case, a case of dowry death has also been registered against them,” Naik said.

Meanwhile, the police are still trying to collect evidence to make their case stronger. “The strongest evidence in the case would have been Preeti’s body which is yet to be recovered. Kurmi confessed to his crime ten days after throwing Preeti’s body in the creek and despite repeated searches, the body hasn’t been recovered yet,” said police inspector Siddeshwar Kamble, the investigating officer in the case. “Before disposing off Preeti’s body, Kurmi had removed all her ornaments, and dumped them in a public toilet nearby. We took the help of BMC’s conservancy workers to recover the ornaments but were unsuccessful. If found, the ornaments would also be a strong evidence,” he said.

Kamble added that after disposing off the body, Kurmi met Preeti’s parents in Bhayander. “He pretended to be worried about Preeti’s ‘sudden absence’ and enquired with them if she had come there,” he said.