Yet another young woman lost her life on Monday in a horrific case of using acid as a weapon—and this time it is her own husband and his family who are the perpetrators of the crime.
Gomathi, a-22-year-old graduate, was allegedly forced by her husband and in-laws to pour acid in her mouth and ingest it, demanding more dowry.
Gomathi, who was married to Sudhakar, 32, of Kodaiyanchi near here on March 2 last year, died at about 3 pm on Tuesday in a private hospital in Krishnagiri. The Vaniyambadi police have picked up Sudhakar and his mother Thamilselvi for inquiry and are on the hunt for his sister Kalpana, in connection with the case.
Gomathi’s aunt Sagunthala said the young woman’s in-laws forced her to drink toilet-cleaning acid. “Gomathi told me that she was packing her clothes to go to her parents’ house after a fight with her in-laws on Monday morning. But, she was not allowed to leave the house and her in-laws forced her to drink the acid at noon,” she said.
“She told me this when we were taking her to a private hospital in Krishnagiri in an ambulance,” Sagunthala said, adding that Sudhakar and his mother, as well as Gomathi’s hapless parents, Venkatesan and Revathy, were in the ambulance when she made the allegations.
Since her wedding, Gomathi was being harassed by her in-laws for more dowry, her family said. The family of Gomathi, who died on Monday after she was allegedly forced by her husband and in-laws to drink acid, told Express that she was constantly being harassed for more dowry, ever since she got married in March last year.
“We gave seven sovereign of jewels as dowry along with other household articles. After the wedding, they (Gomathi’s husband and his family) frequently sent Gomathi to her parents’ house, demanding more. In the past few months, Sudhakar (Gomathi’s husband) has been demanding Rs 2 lakh from Gomathi’s family to start a business,” her uncle Kumaresan said.
Sagunthala said she received a phone call from a relative in Kodaiyanchi at about 8 pm on Monday, about Gomathi’s condition. The girl’s family rushed to the GH at Vaniyambadi. After the first aid, she was referred to a private hospital in Krishnagiri.
“The doctors there told us that they found powerful acid in Gomathi’s stomach. She died of internal burns to the organs,” said her aunt Sagunthala. Sagunthala lodged a complaint with Vaniyambadi Town Station against Sudhakar members.