Dowry Harassment: Kerala woman starved to death; husband and mother arrested

Kerala, which hails to be the most literate state will shock you with a recent dowry harassment incident that is taking social media by storm. Where a 27-year-old woman from Kollam district was starved to death by her husband and mother-in-law over dowry.

The starved woman died on March 21 and she weighed only 20 Kgs when she breathed her last.

According to the India Times, the woman was reduced to a 'bag of a skeleton' as she was forced to survive on soaked rice and sugar syrup. The post mortem revealed that the young mother, who had a one-and-a-half-year old child still being breast-fed, died of pneumonia caused by chronic starvation.

During investigation, it was revealed that she had been harassed for several years and was left to starve in the last three weeks before her death.

Currently, the police has arrested the woman's husband Chandulal, and his mother Geetha Lal in regards to the case. Both have been remanded in judicial custody.

The incident came to light, when the woman was brought to Kollam district hospital in an unconscious state where the doctors declared her brought dead.

The story dates back to 2013 when the woman and Chandulal got married. Just three months after marriage, he demanded Rs. 2 lakh more from the woman and her family. As her parents could not pay the amount, she was not allowed to meet anyone- be it her parents, relatives or neighbours. Even after her child birth, she was not allowed to meet anyone from her family.

Further reports states that, Chandulal and his mother were practicing black magic and witchcraft.

Police who are investigating the matter have also questioned the woman's parents about not reporting the matter to the police earlier.

A case has been registered and further investigations are on.