Burdwan, July 23: A woman was killed last night allegedly because her husband did not like her dark complexion.

Shrabani Ghosh, the mother of a 14-month-old son, was first hacked and then strangled in a Burdwan village some 150km from Calcutta.

Her husband Ashok, 27, his mother and two brothers were arrested this afternoon from the hospital where the body had been taken for post-mortem.

Ashis, 26, told police his brother had killed boudi because “he never came to like her”.

The Ghoshes, an affluent family of farmers, are known to be fair at Singar village in Kalna. But they got the elder son married to a “dark” girl possibly because of the Rs 30,000 and two grams of gold that her father Nabakumar said he had given as dowry.

“Dada had not seen boudi before marriage,” said Ashis. “When he saw her, he did not like her. This led to frequent fights between the two.”

Their mother Indrani had apparently fixed the match.

According to the police, Shrabani was taunted and tortured for her complexion since her marriage two years and four months ago. Her in-laws’ neighbours confirmed the torture.

Kalpana Basak had often heard Indrani, 65, blaming Shrabani for her skin tone. “Before her grandson was born, she had expressed apprehensions that the child will be dark,” said Kalpana, 52.

Medicine shop owner Gour Chandra Mondal said: “The entire family tortured her.”

Around 11 last night, there was an altercation between Ashok and Shrabani. “Then neighbours heard a heated exchange between Shrabani and her brothers-in-law. It appears that it was during this time that her husband and his brothers attacked her with sharp weapons. Then they used a rope to strangle her,” said Sanat Das, the officer in charge of Kalna. The murder weapons, however, are yet to be found.

A police officer said Ashok told his father-in-law over the phone that Shrabani had to be hospitalised after she fell ill. “When I reached the hospital around 2am today, I found my daughter lying on a stretcher in front of the emergency. Doctors told me that she had died… I knew my daughter used to be tortured mentally but I never imagined she would be killed,” said Nabakumar.

Urban Indians’ obsession with the fair skin is known. The increasing number of fairness products in the market stands testimony to that. Ironically, Shrabani’s death confirms the necessity of creams that promise to make people fairer, even in villages.

Subdivisional officer Arup Roy said: “There are injuries on her head and neck and strangulation marks on her throat. It’s a case of murder.”