Delhi newlywed celebrated new beginnings hours before tragic murder
Family rejects suicide claim, says Akriti celebrated with colleagues before tragedy.
Akriti was found dead around 9 pm in Lodhi Colony; police say it appears she fell from a building.
She had joined office that day, hosted a small party, and spoke to her mother at ~6 pm, seeming normal.
Family rejects suicide; brother and relatives say she was mentally strong.
Family alleges husband Arastu Sikka and his relatives demanded Rs 20 lakh dowry and had harassed her.
Couple reportedly argued two days before; family claims husband threatened to kill her.
Police say probe is underway, including forensics, CCTV checks and witness interviews.
Akriti Sutar left for work on a Saturday like any other — chatting with colleagues, hosting a small get‑together and later speaking to her mother about the evening’s plans. Two hours after that normal conversation, her family received a call saying she was missing. By nightfall they were told a woman’s body had been found in Lodhi Colony. The 28‑year‑old, who had married two months earlier, was later identified as Akriti; her family says she was murdered.
Those closest to Akriti describe a young woman who seemed mentally strong and hopeful about the future. She had returned to the office that day despite being on leave, hosted a brief party for co‑workers and spoke to her mother by phone at around 6 pm, sounding “quite normal.” Her brother Amay says Akriti would never have taken her own life. That conviction — shared by family members — is the cornerstone of their allegation: they insist this was not a suicide but a murder.
Two hours after that phone call, Akriti’s husband reportedly rang the family to say she was missing. About 90 minutes later police contacted them to report a woman’s body had been discovered around 9 pm in a residential society in Lodhi Colony, roughly 10 kilometres from her home in Pushp Vihar. Officials say the body was found lying on the ground and that it appeared she had fallen from the building.
Akriti had married on April 24 after an eight‑year relationship. Her relatives say the marriage quickly turned fraught. The family alleges that her husband, 28‑year‑old Arastu Sikka, who they say is unemployed, and his relatives pressured Akriti for dowry — demanding Rs 20 lakh — and repeatedly harassed and threatened her. They claim Arastu made specific threats to kill her and that the couple had a serious argument just two days before her death.
Those allegations have sharpened pain into suspicion. For the family, the sequence of events — a cheerful afternoon at work, a calm phone call home, and then disappearance and death the same evening — does not fit the narrative of someone driven to suicide. The family has publicly rejected that possibility and is pressing for a thorough, impartial probe.
Police say they are investigating from all angles. At this stage authorities have not made any conclusive public statements about cause of death or announced formal charges. Standard procedure in such cases includes forensic examination, checking CCTV footage in and around the residential society, questioning neighbours and acquaintances, and tracing Akriti’s movements and communications in the hours before her death.
The case has stirred wider unease because it touches on recurring social issues: the vulnerability of young women in domestic situations, dowry-related harassment, and how quickly personal tragedy can escalate into public controversy. For Akriti’s family, the questions are immediate and raw — why was she in Lodhi Colony that evening, who accompanied her, and what do the forensic findings show?
As the investigation proceeds, the family’s demand is straightforward: find the truth. Friends and colleagues remember Akriti as lively and engaged that day; relatives remember a sister who was hopeful about married life despite reported tensions. In the absence of firm official findings, those memories drive the family’s insistence that this was not self‑inflicted but a crime that must be investigated as such.