CHENNAI: In a case of suspected dowry death, a 25-year-old woman died by suicide at her parents’ house on Monday, allegedly owing to harassment by her in-laws who were demanding one sovereign gold and an AC. The woman had got married only four days back, the police said. The victim’s husband and mother in-law have been arrested and are being interrogated, a senior police officer said. An RDO enquiry is underway.
According to the police, P Logeshwari of Muslim Nagar near Ponneri got married to E Panneer (37), of Kattavur village in Ponneri, on June 27. While 10 sovereigns of gold jewellery was agreed as dowry, 5 sovereigns were given during marriage.
However, soon after the wedding, her in-laws, including her sister-in-law Nadhiya, allegedly demanded the remaining gold jewellery agreed upon. Logeshwari’s family gave them four more sovereigns, but Panneer’s family kept harassing her for the remaining one sovereign and an AC also, the police said.
A day after getting married, the newly-weds had gone to Logeshwari’s parents’ house. On Monday night, Logeshwari was found dead in the washroom by her mother. She alerted the police who recovered the body and sent it for postmortem. Following a complaint, the police registered a case under BNS section 108.
“We do not know what Logeshwari and Panneer spoke inside their room. Logeshwari locked herself inside the washroom and did not come out for a long time. Only after my other daughter alerted me about her absence, I checked the washroom and found her dead,” Logeshwari’s mother told the media.
On Tuesday, the Ponneri police arrested Panneer and his mother Poongothai (60). The duo were sent to judicial custody. Panneer’s father Ezhumalai and his sister-in-law Nadhiya are absconding, the police added.
(Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on TN’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)