Five days after her death, her father, Sudhakar, filed a complaint accusing Sricharan of murdering her. Police initially registered the FIR under murder sections and have now added BNS sections related to dowry death, Circle Officer Jagdish Chandra Pant said.

Sricharan had told police that when he woke up the next morning, he found blood oozing from his wife’s nose. (Express photo)

“After the case was registered, he absconded and was not cooperating with the investigators. We issued a non-bailable warrant and arrested him. From evidence and statements of the accused and his in-laws, we have ascertained that he allegedly committed the offence over demands of dowry,” Pant said. However, Pant added, 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. She had told them they would return to Delhi by June 15 after visiting Rishikesh and Haridwar. However, on the morning of June 15, she reportedly did not wake up.

“The suspicious circumstances surrounding her death, coupled with the husband’s previous conduct of harassing the deceased, raise serious doubts regarding his involvement. We strongly believe that this is a case of cold-blooded murder. Earlier, the deceased had telephoned me and informed me about the sadistic attitude of her husband. She disclosed that he was suspicious of her and harassed her. She also stated that she would share further details personally upon reaching Visakhapatnam,” the complaint said.

The woman’s father also alleged that Gayatri had told the family Sricharan had placed a tracking device in her bag and frequently suspected her. He 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 by a qualified team, along with an examination of all financial transactions made during the 48 hours preceding the incident.He also accused Sricharan of misleading police by claiming Gayatri suffered from low blood pressure to “divert the investigation”.

“Prima facie, newspaper and media reports also suggest that mixing certain drugs into beer may have caused the death of the deceased. This points towards the possible involvement of the husband,” the FIR quoted him as saying.