Hyderabad: Woman ends life, parents allege dowry harassment by in-laws

Hyderabad: A 25-year-old woman committed suicide in Chaitanyapuri on Monday allegedly following harassment by her husband and in-laws over dowry. Police said K. Lavanya hanged herself at her residence.

The deceased’s family members claimed that she was being tortured and told to abort her pregnancy if she could not get additional dowry from her parents. They alleged her husband and in-laws drove her to death. A case was registered against her husband Anand Kumar and mother-in-law Bharatamma under charges related to dowry death.

Lavanya belonged to Nalgonda district and worked as a nurse at a private hospital. In August 2017, she got married to Anand Kumar who works in a car dealership.

According to case details, Lavanya’s family gave '5 lakh in dowry at the time of her wedding, but a month later Anand started demanding additional dowry. Lavanya, meanwhile, got pregnant. On knowing this, Anand and his mother began harassing her for more dowry. The torture allegedly continued even after her family promised the in-laws of additional dowry.

“They did not care that my daughter was pregnant. They tortured her and threatened to terminate the pregnancy if more money was not arranged,” said Lavanya’s mother Yadamma. Anand called her in the morning to tell her that Lavanya had hanged herself.

“My daughter was patient and strong. I strongly believe that Anand and his mother may have killed her and are trying to paint it as a suicide,” Yadamma alleged.

A case of dowry death was registered. Chaitanyapuri inspector S. Saidaiah said investigations were on in the case.