A month after the mysterious death of 27-year-old Radha Gayatri at a Mussoorie homestay, her husband Sricharan has been arrested by Dehradun Police under sections related to dowry death. According to police, Radha and Sricharan, originally from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh but a resident of Kidwai Nagar in Delhi, were staying at a homestay near Mussoorie when she died under suspicious circumstances on June 15. Preliminary information suggests the couple travelled from Delhi to Rishikesh and reached the homestay around 11:30 pm on June 14.
They reportedly went to sleep around 3:30 am, and Sricharan claimed that when he woke up the next morning, he found blood oozing from his wife’s nose. Five days after her death, her father Sudhakar filed a complaint accusing Sricharan of murdering her, prompting police to initially register the FIR under murder sections and later add sections related to dowry death. Sricharan had been absconding and not cooperating with investigators, leading to the issuance of a non-bailable warrant.
According to Circle Officer Jagdish Chandra Pant, evidence and statements from the accused and his in-laws suggest that Sricharan allegedly committed the offence over demands of dowry. However, the cause of death and modus operandi have not been revealed. The FIR alleged that Gayatri’s parents were unaware the couple planned to stay in Mussoorie, and she had told them they would return to Delhi by June 15 after visiting Rishikesh and Haridwar.
The complaint also stated that Gayatri had previously informed her family about Sricharan’s sadistic attitude and harassment, and that he had placed a tracking device in her bag and frequently suspected her. Gayatri’s father further alleged that Sricharan’s blood samples were not collected on the day of the incident and sought a comprehensive forensic examination of the hotel room. He also accused Sricharan of misleading police by claiming Gayatri suffered from low blood pressure to ‘divert the investigation’.
The FIR also mentioned that newspaper and media reports suggest that mixing certain drugs into beer may have caused the death of the deceased, pointing towards the possible involvement of the husband.
