'He Didn't Want Family's Women to Work': Kin of Delhi Woman Hit by Father-in-Law

Video Producer: Shohini Bose

Video Editor: Prajjwal Kumar

“He did not want the women in the family to work outside home. He did not want my daughter to get a job… He’s suspicious by nature,” lamented the father of the 26-year-old woman, who was hit by a brick on her head, allegedly by her father-in-law. 

The incident took place on Tuesday, 14 March afternoon in northwest Delhi’s Prem Nagar. The woman, identified as Kajal, received 25 stitches on her head, and returned to her parents' home in Haryana’s Faridabad on Thursday.  

An FIR has been filed by Delhi police under section 308 (culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code. The accused, Jasmant Singh, Kajal’s father-in-law, is yet to be arrested.

Over the phone, Kajal’s father Satya Prakash told The Quint, “

The day she was hit with a brick, she had to go for the third round of her job interview. My daughter had asked her husband to get his father’s bike so that he could drop her off for the job interview.

Satya Prakash, Kajal's father

Satya Prakash alleged that when Kajal’s father-in-law Jasmant Singh found out about this, “he argued with her, and then hit her with a brick.”  

‘He Picked a Brick from an Under-Construction Building and Hit My Daughter’

On Thursday, Kajal told The Quint that she was in no condition to speak and was recuperating from the injuries.   

A 43-second purported video of the incident surfaced online in which Kajal can be seen walking in a lane in Prem Nagar, when a man, identified as her father-in-law, approached her. The two can be seen arguing, after which he picked up a brick in a bid to threaten her. When she tried to leave, he hit her on the head with it.  

Kajal’s father told The Quint, “There is an under-construction building nearby from where he picked up a brick and hit her on the head.” Her parents live in Faridabad and filed a police complaint, based on which an FIR has been filed.

Delhi police said that Kajal is currently “unfit to (give a) statement... We spoke to her parents who alleged that the father-in-law beat her up because she was going for a job interview. She wanted to work and support her family.”   

Kajal’s parents found out about the incident when they called her at around 3 pm that day. Her mother said, "I called her at 3 pm because she was going to give a job interview that day… She did not sound okay, so I asked her what happened. Then she told me that she was washing clothes on the staircase and she fell and got injured.” 

It was only when they reached the hospital did their daughter tell them about what happened.  

‘Daughter Has a B.Com Degree, Worked Before Marriage’: Father

Kajal’s father also alleged that her in-laws had been harassing her since she married their son in 2019. “Her father-in-law had been harassing her over dowry for four years now," he alleged.  

She has a B.Com degree and had worked at a car showroom before her marriage. Her father said, “She and her husband were staying with his parents in Prem Nagar earlier but her in-laws would keep arguing with her, mostly over dowry. That is why my daughter wanted to leave the house.” 

A few months ago, Kajal and her husband Praveen moved to a rented house a few lanes away in Prem Nagar.   

She wanted to take up a job to help at home, said her father.

Her husband, Praveen, works as a civil defense volunteer. He earns around Rs 20,000 but that is not enough to sustain the household. My daughter has a degree so she believed she will be able to get a good job

Satya Prakash, Kajal's father

Kajal had applied for a job at a private company in Nangloi and had cleared the first two rounds of the interview.  

'Had Filed Dowry Harassment Complaint Earlier but Withdrew After Daughter Asked me to': Victim's Father

Kajal was admitted to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial hospital, where she received over two dozen stitches on her head. She has now gone back to her parents’ home in Faridabad. Her father said, “She will stay with us now. Her husband had told me to trust him but this happened while he was around, so I do not want her to go back now.”  

Kajal’s father alleged that her father-in-law would abuse her and harass her for dowry. He told The Quint, “He used such abuses that I do not even know how to repeat them in front of you… I work in a small restaurant. I did my best to give them whatever I could. We had the wedding at the restaurant itself and I cooked all the food with my own hands.” 

Satya Prakash alleged that Kajal’s father-in-law demanded a bike. He said that he had filed a complaint of dowry harassment with the Faridabad police earlier.

“The case was going on for over a year. The lawyer told me not to withdraw the case but there was pressure from the family to withdraw it. My daughter also told me to let go of the case, so I withdrew it a few months ago.”   

Now, he wants Kajal to stay at his house. “I have not thought about the future but for now, I want her to stay at home because she is not safe there.”