CHENNAI: The father of 27-year-old Rithanya, who died by suicide on June 28 allegedly due to dowry harassment, met the home secretary on Thursday and sought the appointment of an investigation officer having no ties with the accused and not influenced by local politicians.
In his letter, her father Annadurai detailed the mental, physical and sexual abuse Rithanya suffered at the hands of her husband Kavin Kumar. He said Kavin’s parents, Eswaramoorthy and Chitradevi, were aware of the abuse and complicit in it.
Accusing the police of shielding the accused, Annadurai said the initial investigation was filled with discrepancies. He alleged that SI Duraisamy took his phone without following due procedure at the scene of the incident and made him sign a complaint stating that his daughter had died under suspicious circumstances.
After he received his phone at night and listened to Rithanya’s voice notes describing the abuse, he rushed to the police station, but the officers refused to incorporate the details in the initial complaint.
He also accused the police of leaking his daughter’s voice notes to the media and sections 85 and 108 (cruelty and abetment to suicide) of the BNS were added only after public outrage. Annadurai further alleged that police had failed to seize digital evidence and has been delaying the autopsy report.