Dowry harassment: Pregnant woman kills self; kin bury body on premises of husband’s house

Chennai: Tension prevailed in a village in Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu as harassment over dowry forced  a young pregnant woman to take her own life. Her angry relatives later buried her body as well as that of the stillborn foetus on the premises of her husband’s house.

The victim of the harassment was Nageswary (22), who took her own life with poison. She had married Aravindan of Mettukulam village, also in Pudukottai district, last September. 

Fifteen sovereigns of gold were given as dowry ahead of the wedding. But Aravindan started harassing Nageswary demanding more dowry soon after she became pregnant. Nageswary's in-laws Vijaya and Thankamany as well as a relative Selvaraj joined him in the abuse.

Whenever she was harassed, Nageswary went to the house of her parents in the nearby village. However, each time, Aravindan reached her house, he apologized for the abuse and brought her back to his house. 

The other day, when Nageswary was at her husband’s house, her parents received a call from Aravindan informing them that she had consumed poison. 

Nageswary, who was seven months pregnant, was rushed to a hospital at Kiranoor, but later died. Her body was taken to Pudukkottai Medical College for postmortem. 

Protestors march to husband's house

As Aravindan’s family refused to accept Nageswary’s body, her relatives took it as well as the stillborn foetus and staged a protest. The protestors marched to Aravindan’s house with the body and the stillborn foetus and attempted to bury them on the premises. But, the bid was foiled by the police.

Sometime later, a crowd of around a hundred local people gathered at the spot and forcibly carried out the burial at Aravindan’s house. 

A complaint was soon filed by Nageswary’s relatives with the police, who arrested Aravindan, mother Vijaya, father Thankamany and relative Selvaraj.