Greater Noida Dowry Case: CCTV Clip Shows Accused Vipin Bhati at Shop During Alleged Attack

In a fresh twist to the Greater Noida dowry death case, a purported CCTV footage has surfaced on social media, raising questions about the sequence of events leading to Nikki Bhati's tragic death on August 21. The clip reportedly shows her husband, Vipin Bhati, accused of setting her ablaze over dowry demands, standing at a grocery shop outside his house at the very time Nikki was allegedly on fire.

CCTV Footage Timeline Raises New Questions

The footage, said to be from a shop diagonally opposite the Bhati house in Sirsa village, carries a timestamp of 5:45 pm, matching the timeline of videos shared by Nikki's sister, Kanchan, who alleged her sibling was set on fire by her in-laws.

In the CCTV video, a man believed to be Vipin is seen in a check shirt and blue trousers near a white car. At 5:42 pm, he is outside chatting with locals. By 5:47 pm, commotion breaks out, and the man is seen sprinting towards the house before re-emerging, gesturing frantically. Shortly after, he reverses his vehicle into the lane, apparently to take Nikki to the hospital.

Conflicting Family Claims

Vipin's cousin Devendra has claimed that Nikki sustained burns due to a cylinder blast in the kitchen, not dowry harassment. He stated that Nikki herself mentioned a cylinder explosion while being rushed to the hospital.

However, Kanchan alleged that Nikki was deliberately set on fire by her husband and in-laws after a heated argument over her social media activity and wish to reopen her beauty parlour. She released disturbing videos purportedly showing Vipin dragging Nikki by the hair and taunting her. Vipin's family insists those clips are from months earlier, not from August 21.

Police Investigation Underway

Police have arrested Vipin Bhati, his brother Rohit, and their parents on charges of dowry harassment, domestic violence, and murder. Investigators said the CCTV footage, family videos, and hospital records will be cross-verified to establish the truth.

Additional DCP Sudhir Kumar confirmed that authorities are probing all angles, including dowry harassment and domestic violence, while verifying the authenticity of the videos.

A Case Dividing Two Families

While Nikki's family continues to allege a brutal dowry killing, Vipin's relatives maintain it was a tragic accident. The case has not only highlighted the menace of dowry-related violence in India but also the role of digital evidence like CCTV footage in modern-day investigations.