Techie ends life over dowry
Relatives suspect harassment by inlaws, want murder aspect probed
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-10-08 03:24 GMT
Hyderabad: A 28-year-old woman techie working at Deloitte allegedly committed suicide in her house at Prashanthnagar Nizampet near KPHB. The body of senior consultant R. Shailaja was found hanging in her bedroom on Wednesday morning. While no suicide note was found, police suspect it might be a dowry death and that harassment by her husband and in laws for additional dowry might have prompted her to commit suicide.
A case has been booked against her husband for dowry death. Meanwhile, relatives of Shailaja alleged murder. “There were injuries on her right arm and face, blood stains were on the floor,” said her brother-in-law Mr P. Radha Krishna. He also alleged that the body was found hanging from the side ventilator, an impossible place to commit suicide from. The police have taken Shailaja’s husband, Mr G. Naveen Kumar , a senior techie working with TCS , and his parents into custody.
KPHB police said Shailaja’s body was found inside the bedroom at around 5 am by her husband, who had slept in the main hall that night. “He claimed that he was sleeping in the hall, and in the morning he went inside the room to go to the wash room. It was then he saw her hanging from the side ventilator,” said Mr G. Janaiah, sub inspector of police from KPHB.
Neighbours meanwhile informed the police and Shailaja’s relatives that the couple had been quarrelling till midnight on Tuesday. Her relatives also told the cops that she was being physically harassed for many months. “The victim’s father has lodged a complaint stating that her husband and in laws had been harassing her for the last one year. So a case is booked under IPC Section 304 B as of now,” said a senior police official from Kukatpally adding that if the post-mortem report showed any evidence of murder, the section would be altered accordingly. The couple had married three years ago and Shailaja had given birth to a boy one year ago.
Parents says SIL had asked dowry:
R. Shailaja’s family members are in deep shock following her death. Her husband had allegedly not allowed her to meet her parents for the last one year due to an ongoing dispute over dowry. Shaialaja’s father, retired Excise employee Mr R. Krishna, said that they had paid more than '10 lakh as dowry at the time of the wedding. “Later, I paid them '5 lakh as they continued to pester us. After that we paid them a few more lakhs as they demanded again. Her husband and in-laws were asking for more money. But I could not pay them since I had one more daughter to marry off,” said a grief struck Mr Krishna.
Her parents added that Shailaja was well paid in her job and she would give her salary to her husband and in-laws. “Apart from her monthly salary, she also gave her fixed deposits, insurance money and other savings to them. They still wanted more money. When she delivered a baby boy a year back, we were asked to pay the expenses,” added Mr Krishna. He also alleged that Shailaja’s husband Naveen Kumar had not allowed her to meet them in the last one year.