A 30-year-old woman killed herself in Hyderabad on Monday evening after her husband and his family allegedly harassed her for dowry. The police said that on Sunday, the woman, identified as Leelasree, had an argument with her husband, Praveen Kumar. Following this, he allegedly physically assaulted her.
The police claimed that after the altercation, the husband’s family abused the woman over the phone following which she was upset and killed herself. Some media reports suggest that the incident came to light after the woman's four-year-old daughter answered her mother’s phone when her grandmother (Leelasree’s mother) called. Leelasree's sister was informed and she rushed to the house.
The sister later filed a complaint with the Raidurgam Police Station in the city. In a press note, the police said that they have arrested the husband and his family, including his sister, brother and mother, for harassing the deceased person "physically and mentally". They were booked under Section 498-A (Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and Section 306 (Abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The police said that Leelasree married Praveen, who was based in Vizag, in 2013, and stayed in Guntur for three years before moving to Chitrapuri Colony in Manikonda, a suburb in Hyderabad. The alleged harassment began soon after their marriage as Praveen and his family had taken some loans. The police added that the husband’s family pressured Leelasree not to disclose these disputes to her family. Further investigation is ongoing.
In April this year, a retired High Court judge was booked by the Hyderabad police for allegedly harassing and physically assaulting his daughter-in-law over dowry. The daughter-in-law was beaten so badly that she had to be taken to a hospital and her family subsequently filed a police complaint.
The complainant, 30-year-old Sindhu Sharma, had approached the Central Crime Station in the city and alleged that Justice Nooty Ramamohana Rao, his wife, Nooty Durga Jaya Laxmi and their son, Nooty Vasista, had repeatedly harassed her, allegedly over dowry, and also physically assaulted her.