A woman in India has been scarred for life after her husband allegedly cut her nose off because her family were unable to pay a marriage dowry.
Kamlesh Rathore, 25, from Utter Pradesh, northern India, says she was attacked by husband Sanjeev Rathore, 27, who had been demanding a dowry of £550 since they tied the knot eight years ago.
Under Indian custom, a dowry is a gift of cash, jewellery or land that the bride’s family gives to the groom as a condition of their marriage.
But Kamlesh now says that her husband harassed her for the money every day before eventually launching the savage attack.
‘He was constantly demanding 50,000 [rupees], she said.
‘I repeatedly told him that my father is very poor and he cannot afford such an amount but he did not listen and used to threaten me that he’ll chop off my nose. He has beaten me for years. He’s used belts, slippers, sticks and has always tortured me.’
Kamlesh claims that Sanjeev attacked on 14 September as she cooked dinner – and was pinned down by her in-laws as he hacked off her nose.
‘They all grabbed me tightly. I could not move. And then out of nowhere I saw a knife and he chopped off my nose’, Kamlesh said.
After the attack, Kamlesh was reportedly rushed to a nearby health centre – but medics were unable to re-attach the nose because Sanjeev had taken it with him.
Local police now say that they are tracking Sanjeev’s family after they went on the run following the attack.
Kamlesh’s older brother Sachin, 26, said: ‘My sister’s husband has been very cruel. He has given her a terrible life and now this. He even took her nose and gifted it to the gods at his temple. He’s a sick man.’
