NOIDA – The horrible death of 28-year-old Nikki Bhati, who was allegedly set on fire by her husband, has shown how old-fashioned dowry demands may lead to new kinds of problems, like fights over social media and a woman’s ability to be financially independent. Police have now said that Bhati’s husband, Vipin Bhati, was fiercely against her running a beauty salon and sharing videos on Instagram, in addition to the long-term harassment of her dowry.
A police investigator said that Vipin displayed “no remorse” after the event. He is said to have told his interrogators that he was “strongly against the parlor business” and that his family “did not allow posting reels on Instagram or running a parlor.” This was the main subject of a heated argument on the day Nikki died, August 21. Her relatives found out that she had been burned alive just hours after she told Vipin she wanted to reopen her business.
Nikki and her sister Kanchan, who was also married into the same family, were both active on Instagram and YouTube. They managed a channel for their beauty parlor company, “Makeover by Kannchan,” which has a large online following.
There have been a lot of changes in the case and a lot of arrests. On Saturday, Vipin Bhati was arrested and has since been put in judicial detention for 14 days. It is also said that he was shot in the leg while trying to get away from the cops. Daya Bhati, Vipin’s mother, was arrested on Sunday after Vipin was taken into custody. Police detained his brother and Kanchan’s spouse, Rohit Bhati, on Monday. This was the third arrest in the case. The family says that they were asked for a dowry of ₹35 crore.
Rohit Gurjar, Nikki’s brother, said that demands for dowries, especially for expensive cars, started two years after Nikki married Vipin in December 2016. Even after many attempts to fix things, the fights went on. Kanchan filmed the attack, and Nikki’s six-year-old son saw it happen. He later told the police, “They poured something on my mother, slapped her, and set her on fire with a lighter.”
There is a case against Vipin, his mother Daya, and his brother Rohit. The police are still looking into the case, and the victim’s family is asking for justice and the heaviest sentence possible for the perpetrators.