Kollam: A woman and her five-year-old son were allegedly expelled from her husband's house at Thazhuthala near here in what appears to be a dowry harassment case.

The mother-son duo was forced to spend a whole night in the open sit-out of the house. The victim, Athulya, told Manorama News that the cruel treatment is the latest of the dowry harassment episodes that she has been facing for a long.

The locals, too, accused the police of inaction in the matter, resulting in their indulging in heated arguments with the cops.

The households locked the gate on Thursday evening when Athulya left the house to pick up her son from school.

"I left the house last evening to pick up my son returning from school. When we returned after five minutes, both gates were found locked up. When I couldn't enter the house, I informed the matter to the police station. I even directly called up the police commissioner. I also informed the women's police cell and the child welfare wing. However, none responded properly," she revealed.

"I was forced to wait in front of the gate late into the night along with my unfortunate child. Finally, it was 11 pm. We scaled the house's compound wall with the local residents' help and sat at the sit-out. When I switched the lights, my mother-in-law suddenly turned off the main switch. There was pitch darkness all over," Athulya said in tears.

“I was subject to such harassment from the time I came to the house after my marriage. They used to harass me, saying that the dowry was less and that they wanted a brand-new car. The same treatment has been meted out to my co-sister-in-law, who is now staying at her parent's house," she added.

"They built this house using my gold and money. The problems might be due to their reluctance to return the same. During construction, they promised me that they would register the house in my name and that we could stay there permanently after my son started attending school. That's why I enrolled my son in a school near the house. However, they have been harassing me mentally and physically since I arrived here, saying that I can't stay here. Now It's been revealed that the house and the premises were registered in the name of someone else," Athulya claimed.