When Akriti, 28, took up a job as a sales executive at a firm in Delhi’s Chattarpur in 2021, it marked both a career step and a responsibility she had to shoulder.Her father, Ashok Suttar, a civil contractor, had died after a prolonged illness, leaving behind Akriti, her mother Anu Suttar, and a younger brother who had just completed his B.Com degree from a Delhi college.At 24, she became the family’s main support. She sent money home regularly, her family said. “She took the job without making a huge deal out of it… She was always happy…,” said Mananjay, her uncle. “She wanted to take care of her mother and for her brother to be set before she settled down.”It was during this time that she reconnected with a former schoolmate. Through her, Akriti renewed contact with her brother, Arastu Sikka, whom she had also known from school.Also Read | Dowry deaths are about more than patriarchy. Look at north-south differenceThe three began spending time together, before the friend suggested that Akriti date her brother.Akriti and Arastu were in a relationship for three years before getting married on April 24.What followed after the wedding would upend the life she had built. There were fights over her job, which she eventually quit, alleged demands for dowry and physical abuse, claimed her family.Story continues below this adLast week, however, they said Akriti decided to rejoin work.Days later, on July 4, she was found dead inside Palika Kunj apartment complex in Lodhi Colony — a cluster of three-storey, brutalist grey stone buildings she had never visited and where she knew no one.“Prima facie, it’s a case of suicide,” said a police officer. “It seems she jumped off the third floor.”Her family, however, has rejected the possibility and alleged harassment by her husband and in-laws. On Monday, police apprehended Arastu after a case was registered under sections 80 (dowry death) and 85 (cruelty) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Lodhi Colony police station.Cracks since the startStory continues below this adIn the days following her death, her family claimed there were signs of strain from the very beginning.When Akriti had first told her mother about Arastu, she was a little wary of Arastu’s approach to career and his general behaviour. As per the FIR, Anu had ‘warned’ Akriti about marrying Arastu. But after Arastu reached a reluctant understanding over Akriti’s job, said Mananjay, the marriage went ahead.“She quit the job two months or so after the marriage after a lot of fights with Arastu,” said Mananjay, Akriti’s uncle. “But last week, she decided to go back. Since her father’s death, she has been the financial support for her mother and younger brother.”“Arastu had a problem that she sent Rs 5,000 to her mother and brother, and wanted her to leave the job. Despite knowing the financial condition of the family, he demanded Rs 10 lakh dowry and a car,” he alleged.Story continues below this adHe did not have a stable job, the uncle claimed.He ‘assaulted her’, alleges familyAccording to the FIR, Anu said just a month into the marriage, Arastu allegedly started beating her daughter. The initial arguments started because of Akriti’s job.On June 17, as per the FIR, Akriti had told her mother that Arastu allegedly hit her with a belt because she didn’t pick his phone as it was on silent; he suspected that she was having an affair.On June 29, the FIR alleged, Akriti was beaten again by Arastu.Story continues below this ad“On July 3, I called Arastu’s father and told him that my daughter was becoming depressed because of the violence. He spoke to Arastu and scolded him, but Arastu snapped back and abused him…,” Anu alleged in her complaint to police.What happened on July 4On July 4, Akriti called her mother to say she had another fight with her husband the previous day and had decided to rejoin work. She even told Anu she was throwing a party for her colleagues to mark her return to self-reliance.“Around 6 pm, she called to tell me she had left the office and was returning to her in-laws’ place in Pushp Vihar,” Anu alleged in her complaint.At 8 pm, Anu said she got a call from Arastu. He claimed Akriti was not home and had either run away or was hiding at her mother’s place. “Panicking, I called her multiple times but her phone was switched off,” she said.Story continues below this adAt 9 pm, Anu asked a friend of Akriti’s to call her. This time, the phone rang. But a policeman was on the other end. “He asked us to come to Lodhi Colony. We found out our daughter was dead,” she said.Police said they got a call from a man named Neeraj Kumar, who lives in C block in Lodhi Colony; he had found Akriti’s body and rushed her to a hospital. When police reached the spot, they found her handbag, slippers and dupatta on the rooftop of the building from where she is suspected to have jumped.She was taken to All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where doctors declared her dead on arrival.