Kayamkulam: Days after a 24-year-old girl named Ramsi died by suicide at Kottiyam in Kollam when her boyfriend of a long time ditched her after promising marriage, a similar incident has been reported in Arattupuzha in Kayamkulam.
The family of a 21-year-old woman has alleged that she ended her own life after the man who was with her for seven years and had promised to marry her did not keep his word saying the dowry was not sufficient.
The police have registered a case and are investigating.
Archana (21), the daughter of Murikkinveettil Viswanathan in Perumpally and a BSc Nursing final-year student, died by suicide when the man’s marriage with another woman was being fixed at his home. Before taking the extreme step, she sent him a message on WhatsApp saying she was ending her life.
The incident, which took place on Friday, came to light after the last rites of the woman were performed on Sunday. Audio messages of the girl talking to a friend about her love have also come out.
Archana was in school when she fell in love with the young man who lived near the school. When she passed Plus Two, the young man went to her house with a marriage proposal. But her father sent him back saying he did not want to marry her off as yet as he wanted her to continue her studies. The two continued their affair while she was studying for BSc Nursing.
Meanwhile, the young man went abroad and became well off financially. He then started avoiding the girl, the family alleged.
When the girl asked him about marriage, he wanted to know how much dowry he would get. Her father told him he would give 30 sovereigns of gold.
According to relatives, the young man withdrew from the marriage as the girl’s father, who was a labourer, could not afford to spend big. They say the insistence of the boy’s parents for more dowry was the reason for him to back off from the marriage.
His parents said he had given 101 sovereigns of gold and a car as a dowry for his sister's marriage. They said they wanted the same dowry for their son or else they would look for another alliance for him. This disheartened the girl.
He decided to marry another girl, and Archana chose to commit suicide on the day when his marriage was being fixed on Friday.
The news of the suicide has come out on Monday, the day the engagement ceremony of the boy was to take place.
On Friday, the girl sent a WhatsApp message to the young man saying she was going to die. She deleted the message after she was certain that he had read it. Then she ate a poisonous fruit called othalam (Cerbera odollam).
Meanwhile, the man informed one of his friends about the incident. When they reached the spot, they found the girl unconscious. Although she was taken to the Alappuzha Medical College Hospital, she could not be saved.
The man has been absconding since the incident.
There is a growing demand for his arrest for cheating the girl after promising marriage.
My love was sincere but still he dumped me, says Archana in audio clip
Archana says in the audio message that she had kept the poisonous ‘othalam’ (Cerbera odollam) fruit in her cupboard to take her own life but somebody took it away.
On her broken affair, Archana says that her old lover was confident that she would not dare to take any extreme steps. “I had made all preparations when father was admitted to hospital. Then mother was at home and there were exams. Later, I saw that the othalams were missing. Then all hell broke loose and father cried a lot. What could I do? I can’t even kill myself,” says the young woman.
Archana continues that she had not asked her lover to take her forcibly from her house but that she would wait till parents gave their consent to the marriage. However, the man who dumped her told her to file a case. “He spoke very disparagingly to me. I wished to marry him but he said we can continue the affair. I have a younger sister and cannot do anything. I believe I have done the maximum and nothing wrong. Maybe there were some mistakes but I have not felt so,” she says.
The young woman adds she is angry because she was sincere in her love. “Still, he cheated me. Even then, I seek no revenge. I can call the girl he is planning to marry after dumping me and get that wedding cancelled. However, I won’t do that. I am not that type of girl. Anyway, what is the fault of that girl?” asks Archana.
She wonders whether her former lover would lead a successful life. “Let his life be a success. But I am certain it won’t be,” she adds.
“I’ve lost everything. The only relief is my studies; it is the only aspect of my life that is going smoothly,” she reveals.
Archana also says that many people had told her she should be glad that the man had left her. “They are right. But I had loved so sincerely that grief cannot be avoided,” she continues.
“He wants to enjoy life with that girl and is unconcerned about my loss. But there is God and that man will suffer some setback. I told him that I would take my own life; but he didn’t even call me back,” concludes the audio clip.
