Noida dowry killing: New video emerges claiming Vipin and Nikki’s father-in-law were outside when she burned, relative says Kanchan was lying

A new video claiming that Vipin and his father were not present while Nikki was burning has been circulating on social media. Nikki Payal was allegedly burned to death in Greater Noida in front of her sister and son over a ₹36 lakh dowry.

The video claims that both the accused, Vipin, and his father (who have now been arrested) were outside the house. The unverified footage from a CCTV camera shows two people walking near a white vehicle.

Posts on the internet say that the accused claims that Nikki set herself on fire and that Kanchan, her older sister, was lying by only showing half the truth to the world.

The claims do not align with earlier statements made by Nikki’s son and her sister. Nikki’s 6-year-old son said that he saw something being poured on his mother before she was slapped and set on fire. Her sister, Kanchan, had said that Nikki was murdered by her in-laws as part of a plot to get Vipin remarried.

A relative of the accused, Sonu Bhati, claimed that the videos posted by Kanchan that showed Vipin and his mother assaulting Nikki over the opening of her boutique were from November of last year. He said that Kanchan edited the videos and posted them on Instagram to make it seem like it happened on the same day.

The relative in a statement to Amarujala said that Nikki and Kanchan planned to reopen their boutique. After a fight broke out, Nikki killed herself while Vipin, his father, and his brother went out of the house. He said that the family was being defamed on the internet.

An anonymous source who spoke to local media said that Vipin had fled the home after burning his wife to say that he was against his wife and sister in law running the parlour business.

According to the victim's family, Vipin's family owns a grocery store and makes meagre earnings from it. So the sisters, Kanchan and Nikki, opened a beauty parlour at their in-laws' house third floor to earn on their own to take care of their children. The sisters also used to post reels on Instagram on an account called “Makeover by Kanchan” and had over 54 thousand followers. Their joint posts had racked up millions of views. Nikki’s father has alleged that the in-laws stole from the sisters and abused them for running the parlour and posting content.

According to local media reports, the sisters had returned to their paternal home after one such incident. Vipin and his family then involved the local panchayat and apologised to the sisters. The sisters had to return to their in-laws' house and shut down their business in February this year.

Police say that on August 21, around 3.30 pm, Nikki said that she and her sister wanted to reopen her boutique, which led to the fight. Kasna police station in-charge Dharmendra Shukla said that during the fight, Vipin told Nikki that she cannot post content on social media and run the beauty parlour anymore. The police said that the fight escalated after this, and Vipin killed his wife by setting her on fire.