New Delhi: She was trained to take on terrorists and kidnappers, but wasn’t prepared to face the horrors of domestic violence arising out of dowry demands by her husband and in-laws.
Kajal Chaudhary, a 27-year-old Delhi Police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) commando, was brutally assaulted by her husband and hit on the head with a dumbbell, killing her.
Ankur, the accused, even called Kajal’s brother, Nikhil, while assaulting her, telling him: “I am killing her”
“He called me and said, ‘Apni behen ko samjha le’ (Make your sister understand),” Nikhil shared, as reported by PTI.
Nikhil is himself a Delhi Police constable posted at the Parliament Street Police Station. He asked his brother-in-law to calm down and immediately called his sister Kajal, who was four months pregnant.
“She normally wouldn’t tell us much about what was happening, but that day she was sharing her ordeal. While we were speaking, he (Ankur) got angry that she (Kajal) was telling me things and snatched the phone from her,” Nikhil said.
“He then told me, ‘Is call ko recording pe rakh, police evidence me kaam aayega. Main maar raha hoon teri behen ko. Police mera kuch nahi kar payegi’ (Put this call on recording, it will be useful as police evidence. I am killing your sister. Police won’t be able to do anything). Then I heard her screams. The call ended abruptly,” he added.
The distraught brother’s phone rang again five minutes later. It was Ankur, who told him that his sister was dead.
“He said, ‘Ye mar gayi hai. Hospital aajao’ (She is dead. Come to the hospital). We rushed there with police personnel. He and his family were already present. When I saw my sister… not even an enemy kills someone like this,” Nikhil said, as reported by NDTV.
Kajal and Ankur first met in college in Panipat and got married on November 23, 2023. Following frequent disputes at their native home in Ganaur, Haryana, the couple decided to move out and shifted to a rented accommodation in Mohan Garden in Delhi in December 2024. But the tensions continued.
Kajal was allegedly being harassed for dowry by her mother-in-law and two sisters-in-law throughout her two-year marriage.
Kajal’s mother said that her daughter had taken a loan for her in-laws. Ankur had also borrowed money from Kajal’s parents.
Kajal’s father, Rakesh, alleged persistent dowry demands despite giving expensive gifts at the wedding.
“We gave them a Bullet motorcycle, gold jewellery and cash at the wedding, but they said our son would have got a car (had he married someone else). Later, my daughter even arranged a car, but they didn’t stop harassing her. We couldn’t even speak freely to her,” he said.
The First Information Report (FIR) states that Kajal was allegedly hit on the head with a heavy dumbell from behind. There were multiple injuries on her body, the family claimed.
She was rushed to a Ghaziabad hospital, where she died of her injuries five days later. Ankur was arrested hours later, and a case of murder was registered. The couple has a one-and-a-half-year-old son, who is currently with his maternal grandparents, it has been reported.
Nikhil alleged that Kajal was slapped by her husband around five months ago. “I went there and asked her to come with me. Ankur apologised and swore on his child that he wouldn’t repeat it. I told my sister she could return home whenever she wanted and didn’t have to stay there,” he said.
She was allegedly made to do household chores after returning from duty, even during pregnancy. “She would cook, wash clothes and utensils despite being pregnant,” Nikhil claimed.
