Indian police investigate minister for allegedly abusing woman

LUCKNOW, India -- Indian police are investigating allegations that a federal minister and his family beat up his grandson's wife in an attempt to extract a Mercedes and an apartment as part of the woman's wedding dowry, police said Tuesday.

Although the practice of the bride's family giving large sums of money and expensive gifts to the groom's has long been outlawed, dowries remain commonplace in India, as does dowry harassment.

Some prisons even have special wings for mothers convicted of killing their daughters-in-law over dowries.

The alleged involvement of a senior official, Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh, in a dowry harassment case is likely to embarrass the government, which has worked to make filing charges in dowry cases easier by allowing victims to approach judges instead of police, who can be bought off.

Singh's family has denied any wrongdoing, insisting the charges have been filed in retaliation for an attempt to seek a divorce.

Last year, Singh's grandson Abhijeet married Priyanka Singh, the daughter of a businessman in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. But within months the couple split and Priyanka returned to her parents home, alleging that she had been physically abused.

"My daughter was tortured and beaten up black and blue by her husband and in-laws who used her to demand more dowry. They were asking for a Mercedes Benz car and a flat in New Delhi," Madhvendra Singh, the bride's father, told The Associated Press from Moradabad, 185 miles southwest of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh.

"I am not that rich. I spent around $125,000 for their marriage. I was not in a position to spend more money," he added.

Madhvendra Singh said he tried to file charges but was rebuffed because police did not want to open a case against a high-profile politician.

He then went to a judge, who ordered a police investigation. The state government in turn ordered the inquiry handed over to Central Bureau of Investigation, the federal government's investigative agency.

The governing Congress party, to which Arjun Singh belongs, has tried to downplay the incident.

"Let us wait for the facts," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said.