Airhostess jumps off cruise ship, family alleges husband beat her regularly
4 January 2010, 05:36pm IST
The family of former air hostess Neha Chhikara, who committed suicide on January 1, has submitted a written complaint to the Gurgaon police alleging that she had been physically and mentally tortured for dowry by her husband and in-laws. The police are yet to register an FIR. Neha's father-in-law is the Gurgaon civil surgeon, S S Dalal.
Neha, an air hostess with Indigo Airlines earlier, jumped into the sea from a cruise ship in the Bahamas early on Friday morning. She was earlier reported missing by her husband, Ankit Dalal, a manager with the same ship. Ship security footage later showed the 23-year-old taking the deadly plunge from the 11th deck, her family said.
Neha had married Ankit in October 2008. Her family said they spent over Rs 45 lakh on the wedding and gave the Dalals Rs 15 lakh in cash. ``Just after the marriage, they demanded Rs 10 lakh more and we gave them that too. But their attitude towards my daughter was bad since day one,'' claims Neha's father, S K Chhikara, who is the director of a shipping corporation.
The family alleged that Dalal, his daughter, Anika, and Ankit used to beat her up. ``She was asked to bring cash and jewellery every now and then and when she refused, they would beat her up. Once she was beaten so badly by Dalal that her jaw got dislocated and she also lost her job as air hostess,'' Atul Ahlawat, Neha's cousin, alleged.
``We will examine the allegations and take action accordingly,'' S S Deswal, commissioner of police, said.
Neha went to the US on December 15 and got a job offer in the same cruise liner where her husband worked. ``Just a few hours before she committed suicide, she had sent an email to her brother saying that she was badly hit by Ankit,'' Ahlawat said. ``I have lost the strength to live. I am depressed,'' Neha is claimed to have written in the the email.
She is further claimed to have written, ``I don't think he wants me to work here on the ship...he keeps threatening to call up security and get me detained by US authorities so that I can never come to the US. He threatens to handcuff me and lock me up in a cell on the ship...''
Despite repeated efforts to get the reaction of Neha's in-laws, her father-in-law did not take calls.