The house that was ransacked and (inset) Rinki Pal. Picture by Avijit Sarkar

Siliguri, April 24: A mob, angry over the alleged murder of a housewife for dowry, ransacked and looted a house in Hyderpara here today.

Rinki Pal, 19, was found hanging last evening in a room in that house, where she lived with her husband and in-laws.

Her husband Chitta Pal, a mechanic, and mother-in-law Usha were arrested last night after Rinki’s family lodged a complaint with the Bhaktinagar police station, accusing her husband and in-laws of torturing her for not being able to pay dowry. They were remanded to judicial custody today morning.

Police also picked up Rinki’s sister-in-law for questioning this morning shortly before a mob descended on the house and ransacked it.

The mob dispersed before the police arrived at the scene.

“We have not been able to take any action because local residents have not identified any of the looters. There is nothing we can do unless an FIR is lodged,” a police officer said.

Local residents said a rumour, that Rinki’s postmortem report had confirmed that the bride of four months was killed before being hanged, sparked the public outrage.

The police, however, denied that there were any reports suggesting that the bride was killed.

“When we have not yet received the post mortem report, how could the people get to know anything about what took place?” asked Bhaktinagar circle inspector Pradip Dutta.

Prima facie evidence, police said, suggested that it was a case of suicide.

“Preliminary investigations do not point to a murder. “Rinki’s husband and her in-laws have been arrested on the basis of the first information report filed by the Rinki’s family,” Dutta said.

Rintu Pal, Rinki’s brother, however, said this was a dowry-related murder.

“They murdered my sister and then hanged her to avoid suspicion and cover up their tracks,” he said.

“A day before her marriage on December 1, Usha demanded Rs 15,000 as dowry. We come from a middle-class family and were not in a position fulfil her demands. The marriage, however, took place and we thought Rinki would have a good life at her in-law’s place. But we were proved wrong.”

Aparna Pal, Rinki’s mother, who had come from Behrampur, on hearing the news of her daughter’s death said: “If they were unhappy with my daughter they could have sent her back home. Why did they have to kill her?” she said, her eyes welling up.

Niramati Pal, Rinki’s maternal aunt, who stays a stone’s throw away from her in-laws’ place, was inconsolable: “It was only last Sunday that Rinki had come to our place, but she never gave a hint that things had reached a point of no return.”