Amitabh Shrivastava with Kiran and the two daughters at India Gate in Delhi and (below) Vipashyana and Ayashna demand capital punishment for their father in Motihari on Saturday. Picture by Ajit Kumar Verma

Motihari, June 18: “Mere papa ko phansi do (hang my father)” screamed a banner carried by two little girls — Vipashyana (13) and Ayashna (7) — on the streets of Motihari today.

The two girls marched with the body of their 39-year-old mother, which was carried by the neighbours and relatives for the last rites.

Both Vipashyana and Ayashna, who have been witnesses to every torture and tyranny inflicted upon their mother by their sergeant father, Amitabh Shrivastava, who was having an extra-marital

relationship with a woman from Hashimara (Bengal), demanded a painful death for Amitabh.

They claimed Amitabh, along with his mother Sharda Devi, father Surendra Nath Prasad and sister-in-law Archana Devi, burnt their mother, Kiran Srivastav, on June 12. Kiran succumbed to her injuries last evening at Patna-based Apollo Burn Hospital.

According to the family sources, Kiran, along with her two daughters had come to Motihari — her in-laws house — on June 6 from Jamshedpur, where she was living with her mother and brother.

Kiran had been assured by her in-laws that they will settle the dispute between her and Amitabh through compromise and mediation.

From his present place of posting, the Indian Air Force base camp at Naal in Rajasthan, Amitabh suddenly arrived at his Motihari residence on June 8. He assaulted his wife on the night of June 10, and a day later, with the help of his mother, father and sister-in-law, set her on fire after sprinkling kerosene, said Kiran in her statement before the police. She was admitted to the hospital with 65 per cent burn injuries.

Binod Prasad Shrivastava, maternal uncle of Kiran, told The Telegraph: “First, Kiran was treated at the local Rahmania nursing home, but after a day, she was referred to the Patna based Apollo Burn Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries around 4.20pm on June 17.” In the case lodged with Motihari Town police station, all the aforesaid persons have been made accused, he added.

According to Kiran’s brother Akhilesh Ranjan Sharan, his sister was a science graduate and had also obtained a music degree from Jamshedpur Women’s College before she was married to Amitabh in 1996.

She used to teach music to children of officials wherever Amitabh was sent for posting.

Akhilesh told The Telegraph that right after the marriage, Amitabh and his family members started demanding a car as dowry. Kiran continued to suffer in silence but a discord still cropped up in her marital relationship in 2004-05 when Amitabh, posted at Hashimara, fell for an athelete and got involved in an extra-marital affair.

A sobbing Vipashyana told The Telegraph: “Even in 2008, when he (Amitabh) was posted in Hindon, my mother had complained against him with the Ladies’ Club, run by the wives of local officers. She lodged a similar complaint recently at Naal in Rajasthan, where he is currently posted, and my father was arrested departmentally for two days.”

All four accused in the case have been absconding since the evening of June 12, said police.

A thorough investigation has been launched into the matter, said Sadar deputy superintendent of police Sushant Kumar Saroj. and added that the killers would be nabbed soon.