Hyderabad: Akhila (all names changed), 27, from the Old City married 32 year-old Srinivas who said he was working as a mechanical engineer in the US. After their marriage, it was found that he had no job and was living on unemployment allowance.
Akhila had completed graduation and her parents, who were farmers, wished to marry her into a well-to-do family. Three years ago, they came across the alliance through a family friend. Akhila’s father Rameshwaraiah agreed to the proposal as Srinivas, hailing from Warangal, was an NRI and was working as a mechanical engineer in the US.
Srinivas told them that he had a good job, a house and was well-settled in the US. Akhila did not object as she thought that she could support her parents.
The family sold their property and gave Rs 15 lakh as dowry, including cash and property, and spent more than Rs 5 lakh on the wedding. Things were all right for a year and Akhila gave brith to a boy.
“After the child’s birth, the husband started showing his true colours. He would harass my daughter every day for extra dowry.She tolerated it for a few months and came back with the child,” Rameshwaraiah said, adding that taking care of both the mother and the kid had increased his burden.
The family filed a case against Srinivas. The police found that he had completed engineering, but was jobless. He had been in the US for five years on dole. Everything that Akhila’s family had been told was false, he said.
