The killing of 28-year-old Nikki Bhati in Greater Noida by her husband over dowry demands has highlighted a ghastly instance of domestic violence and family trauma, particularly with regard to her young son who was an eyewitness to the crime. The August 2025 incident created mass public outrage after her sister, Kanchan, released shocking video clips of harassment and beating on social media.
According to Nikki’s father, Bhikari Singh Payla, his grandson remains deeply scarred by the events of that evening. The boy, who is now in the care of his maternal grandparents, reportedly cries and repeats, “They burnt my mother,” a constant, heart-wrenching reminder of the brutality he witnessed. The boy’s testimony agrees with that of Kanchan, who filmed some of the brutal assault on camera, and described what happened. The child’s explanation of events reports the attackers dousing his mother with a flammable substance, slapping her, and then igniting her with a lighter. The case has its roots in years of dowry harassment on the part of Nikki’s in-laws, although her family was said to have given a hefty dowry at the time she was married in 2016, including a Scorpio SUV and a Bullet motorcycle.
The beatings and harassment, though, never stopped, and the demands of the family for more money, said to be an extra ₹36 lakh, increased with the passage of time. The last straw for the attack was claimed to be Nikki’s need to resume her beauty parlour business along with her sister, Kanchan, and upload videos on Instagram—something her husband, Vipin Bhati, and his family were against. Immediately after committing the crime, Nikki’s husband, Vipin Bhati, was arrested. He was injured in the leg and shot while in custody when he was involved in a police confrontation after allegedly trying to grab an officer’s gun and escape.
The other members of Vipin’s immediate family, including his parents, Satyaveer and Daya Bhati, and his brother, Rohit, were also later arrested. Vipin Bhati, while recovering in the hospital, first denied killing his wife, telling police, “Husbands and wives often have fights,” and that she had expired on her own. This followed after he had uploaded a photo of himself and Nikki on Instagram, pretending to be grieving and suggesting that her death was a suicide, a step the authorities think was an act of tricking the public.
The tragic event brings into focus the continued social problem of violence due to dowry in India and the deep trauma caused to the left-behind families, particularly children who are direct witnesses to these atrocities. Nikki’s father, Bhikari Singh Payla, has openly shared his heartbreak and demanded justice for his daughter, terming the perpetrators as “butchers” who should be killed. Meanwhile, all the accused persons are behind bars, the legal process is in motion, and the victim’s family, including her traumatized son, is left to deal with their huge loss.
