Pune, May 23 -- The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Thursday expelled party leader Rajendra Hagawane, and his son, amid growing criticism and mounting public outrage, after they were named in a dowry harassment and abetment to suicide case involving the former's daughter-in-law in Pune district. The expulsion of Hagawane, a district-level functionary of NCP, and his son Sushil - both absconding - comes days after the former's daughter-in-law Vaishnavi (26) allegedly died by suicide on May 16. An FIR has been registered against the woman's husband Shashank, Hagawane's other son, mother-in-law Lata and sister-in-law Karishma, besides the NCP leader and Sushil, under relevant sections of BNS related to abetment to suicide and domestic violence, police said. In the police complaint, the woman's parents alleged they had given 51 tolas (595 gm) of gold, silver and an SUV to her husband's family at the time of marriage, but the Hagawane family harassed her yet, demanding she bring Rs.2 crore to purchase land. Police have arrested the husband, mother-in-law and sister-in-law of the victim, while Rajendra and Sushil are on the run, a senior officer said. Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who was present at the wedding of Hagawane's son in 2023, said: "After learning about the incident, I called the Commissioner of Police, Pimpri Chinchwad and asked for strict action." Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed dismay. "The incident is a serious matter and the government has taken note of it," he said. The incident triggered strong criticism from Opposition, with NCP(SP) working president Supriya Sule, who sought a judicial inquiry in the matter. "This is not just suicide, there is suspicion of murder. Such a case in a so-called educated family from Mulshi raises serious concerns about where Maharashtra is heading," she said. Meanwhile, Vaishnavi's 10-month-old son was on Thursday handed over to her parents, the Kaspate family. "We are grateful that our grandson is with us now," victim's father Anil Kaspate said....