Pregnant Woman's Limbs Chopped Off, Body Burnt Over Dowry, In-Laws Flee

A 23-year-old pregnant woman was murdered, her hands and legs chopped off and the mutilated body set on fire in Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh district yesterday. Reena Tanwar's family has alleged that her husband Mithun and in-laws had been torturing her for dowry.

The incident took place at Tandi Khurd village in Kalipeeth police station area. Reena's family has said a villager informed them yesterday that she had been murdered. When her father Ramprasad Tanwar reached Tandi Khurd with cops, they found that her in-laws had fled, leaving behind her burning pyre.

The family extinguished the flames and retrieved her half-burnt body that was then wrapped in cloth and sent for autopsy.

Reena Tanwar was married to Mithun Tanwar five years back. She has a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter and was four months pregnant with her second child.

"Her in-laws had been demanding money and torturing my daughter," alleged Ramprasad Tanwar.

Kalipeeth police station in-charge Rajneesh Sirothia said a case had been registered and investigation is underway. "Further action will be taken according to the facts that emerge during the investigation," he said. Mithun Tanwar and his family members are now on the run.

Reena Tanwar's family has demanded strict action against her in-laws. "We used to send money to resolve disputes. This time they went too far," said Vishnu Tanwar, a relative. "We got a call from someone in the village. He said she was killed and was being burnt. When we arrived, the pyre was burning."