BENGALURU: A 29-year-old software engineer died by suicide at her JP Nagar flat following suspected dowry harassment by her husband, also a software engineer, and his family. The deceased, A Bhuvaneshwari, was staying with her mother and her 18-month-old child. She hanged herself from the ceiling fan between 12.45 pm and 1.45 pm on Monday.
Bhuvaneshwari’s friend kept calling her on the phone, but was alarmed when there was no response. She then contacted Bhuvaneshwari’s mother to check. The mother with the help of neighbours forced open the door and found her daughter hanging.
Her father T Anbalagan (67) from Thiruvarur in Tamil Nadu filed a complaint against his daughter’s husband Harish Kumar, mother-in-law Karthigaivalli and brother-in-law Rakesh Kumar on Tuesday. Her husband had not been staying with her for the last seven months, the complaint stated. The Thalagattapura police are on the hunt or the three accused.
Anbalagan stated in the complaint that his only daughter and Harish were in a relationship before getting married on November 20, 2022, with the consent of both families.
Around Rs 25 lakh was spent on the wedding. But as Bhuvaneshwari was harassed mentally and physically, she fell into depression and marriage counselling was also done, the complaint stated. In October 2025, the accused sent the victim to her parents’ house. After that, Harish had no contact with the victim and distanced himself from her and their child. When Bhuvaneshwari’s family tried to resolve the dispute, Harish refused. Harish and his mother then pressured Bhuvaneshwari to annul the marriage, and when she refused, they allegedly issued life threats, according to the complaint.
She later started living at the flat in JP Nagar. While staying there, she made several attempts to contact her husband, but he continued to insist on divorce. Even when their child fell ill, he did not come to see the child. On April 8, 2026, when Harish’s father passed away, the complainant along with his daughter and wife went to attend the funeral.
However, Harish and the other two accused prevented them from participating in the funeral rites and sent them away after creating a dispute.
Despite giving gold jewellery and money as dowry at the time of marriage, Harish, his mother and his brother continued to harass the victim, demanding that she pay Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 every month from her salary and bring money from her parents.
“After getting my daughter married, Harish, his mother and brother subjected her to severe harassment, demanding dowry, pressuring her for divorce, neglecting her and the child, and causing mental and physical cruelty,” Anbalagan stated in the complaint.