A young woman is dead. The official story says suicide. Her family says murder. And the money trail points to a husband who traded in lies as easily as he traded in stocks.
Sources close to the investigation confirm that Priya Sharma, 24, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her marital home in Jaipur on the night of 12 March. Her in-laws claim she was depressed and took her own life. But her parents have filed a complaint alleging dowry harassment and murder. They say she was killed and the scene staged.
This is not a case of he-said-she-said. This is a case of documents and denials. Uncovered emails and bank statements show that Priya’s husband, Vikram Mehta, a junior stockbroker, had been pressuring her to bring in more money from her family. A sum of 500,000 rupees was transferred from her father’s account to Mehta’s just two weeks before her death. The transaction record bears the note: “for business.” Her father calls it extortion.
The in-laws’ lawyer says the money was a loan for a legitimate investment. But the investment account? Empty. The business plan? Non-existent. The only paper trail leads to a shell company registered in Mehta’s name with an address that turned out to be a rented post box.
Police sources say the initial post-mortem report lists asphyxia due to hanging. But they also note bruising on her arms and neck inconsistent with a typical suicidal hanging. They have not ruled out homicide. The case has been transferred to the crime branch.
This is the ugly routine of unaccountable power. A woman marries into a family that sees her as a cash cow. When the milk runs dry, she is discarded. And the system looks the other way until a journalist picks at the scab.
I have spoken to three people who knew Priya. A colleague from her job at a call centre says she was cheerful, ambitious, and had no history of depression. A neighbour heard screams from the house the night she died but did not call the police. “I thought it was a domestic fight,” he said. “It always is.”
Meanwhile, the husband walks free. No arrest. No charges. His lawyer told me the allegations are “malicious and baseless.” But I have seen the WhatsApp messages Priya sent to her mother, pleading for help. “They want more money. I am scared.” The last message was sent two days before her death.
Follow the money. That is the rule. But in this case, follow the silence. The silence of a police force that took three days to register a complaint. The silence of neighbours who hear screams but do not act. The silence of a court system that rarely convicts in-laws.
The battle lines are drawn: murder or suicide. But the truth is already buried – in a shallow grave of institutional indifference. And somewhere, a husband is checking his portfolio, waiting for the noise to die down.
