All the accused were arrested in Bangalore, where they are settled, and brought here on August 6. An offence has been lodged under sections 498, 504, 323 and 34 of the IPC. But for 23-year-old Sonika, the battle has just begun.

``My life has been ruined, there's nothing left,'' wept a distraught Sonika. The daughter of a PWD contractor, Sonika got engaged to Jai Motwani on September 30, 1998. ``The problems started soon thereafter,'' she recalls. ``The Motwanis demanded a lavish party at Maya Hotel here, where they insisted that a 25 gm gold chain and Rs 2,001 be given to Jai and a gold coin of 10 gm each to all his family members.''The Gokhlanis were also allegedly told that if they didn't pay the airfare for the entire Motwani family, the engagement would be called off. ``I gave in thinking of the bad name our family would get if the engagment got cancelled,'' recalls her father, Kishinchand Gokhlani. Sonika and Jai were married on January 5 this year.

The Gokhlanis say they had to bear all the marriage expenses as well. Eight marriage rooms were booked at the posh Dolphin Club here from January 1 to 8 as were music bands and photographers and a fleet of vehicles for the guests. The Motwanis' wish-list didn't stop there, alleged the Gokhlanis.

They were also asked to supply gold chains and rings for the groom's family members, including the mother, father, brother and sister-in-law. And Jai had to be given gold cufflinks and Rs 50,000 for the thread ceremony before the marriage on January 3. The mother-in-law also demanded Rs 30,000 as dowry for the mehndi

ceremony the the next day.

On the day of the marriage itself, theGokhlanis were told to give the bride more jewellery. ``My family did their best but frankly, we were running out of steam,'' Sonika told Express Newsline. She also claimed that after marriage, she was subject to repeated physical abuse after moving to Bangalore. ``My in-laws and husband demanded Rs 50 lakh from my father's place. I was forced to be home-bound, and my mother-in-law fired all the servants working in the house for fear that I would get word out through them,'' she said.

Sonika says she managed to flee Bangalore and return home on July 12. And when she refused to return, an FIR was lodged with the Ulhasnagar police.

According to inspector Ravi Tayade who is handling investigations in the case, Jai and his parents have denied all the charges. ``They have said in their statements that Sonika was unhappy with the marriage and returned to Ulhasnagar claiming that she wanted to attend a relative's wedding,'' he told Express Newsline. The Motwanis themselves flatly refused to speakwhen contacted.