CHENNAI:Rameswar Rao, an IT professional from Telangana who kept his wife and 9-year-old daughter locked up for over three years here, made them undergo the torture dissatisfied that his wife Priyanka gave birth to a girl child. Rameswar and Priyanka married in 2004 and about five years later, he insisted on a divorce, though the couple reconciled after undergoing marriage counseling.
In a few months, Rameswar moved to Chennai to work in a private software firm in an IT park. Not long afterwards, Priyanka gave birth to another child, this time a boy. Talking to Express from her native Warangal, Priyanka said trouble escalated after Rameswar’s mother and younger brother moved in with them at their newly-bought house on Selva Vinayagar Street in Perungalathur, over three years ago. Priyanka was restrained from venturing out of the house, barred from interacting with neighbours and was not allowed access to the phone. Their daughter was locked up in the toilet even as her younger brother was properly taken care of and sent to school. Priyanka said she even sent away her family when they came looking for her fearing that their presence would aggravate the situation for her daughter and herself.
“Unable to withstand the torture any more after all these years, she called us on Sunday. We came to the city and sought the help of the Tambaram All Women Police. It was a woman constable who went inside the bathroom to fetch my niece; police had to clean and dress the child before she was brought out,” Gnaneswar, Priyanka’s brother, said.
FEAR FACTOR
■ Priyanka marries family friend Rameswar Rao in their native Warangal on April 4, 2004
■ Marital life was fine until the sex of foetus was determined to be female in a scan
■ After Priyanka refuses abortion Rao insists on divorce in 2009; the couple reconcile after counselling
■ Rao moves to Chennai for work soon and not long afterwards Priyanka gave birth to a boy
■ Trouble aggravates as Rao’s mother and brother move in with the couple in Perungalathur 3 years back
■ Priyanka restrained from venturing out of house, her daughter locked up inside the toilet
■ Unable to withstand husband’s torture, Priyanka calls her family and narrates her plight on Sunday