Muzaffarnagar: A man was allegedly strangulated to death and his body hanged from a tree over his testifying in his niece's dowry death case at Simarthi village here, police said today.

Jogender (32), a complainant and eye witness in his niece's dowry death case, was strangulated to death and his body was hanged from a tree by two accused Sachin and Billu, when he refused to withdraw the case, DSP Arun Kumar said.  

The body has been sent for post-mortem, he said.  Jogender's niece was allegedly burnt alive for not heeding to dowry demands of her in-laws last year and the case filed by him as an eye witness was pending in court.  

The two accused Sachin and Billu were pressurizing him to withdraw the case, but he refused to budge, Kumar said.  Senior police officers had to pacify an enraged crowd of villagers who handed over the body to the police only after their assurance that action will be taken against the culprits.

A case has been registered against the accused duo, he said, adding that further investigation is on in the matter.  Meanwhile, security has been tightened in the village and additional police has been deployed as a precautionary measure.