Hyderabad: Dowry harassment forced a 25-year-old newly-wed woman and software professional to take the extreme step of ending her own life. P. Rupini, 25, hanged herself from the ceiling of her home in Raidurgam on Sunday.
Raidurgam police have booked a case against her husband Sandeep Raja for dowry death.
Rupini was married to Sandeep, a gym trainer, five months ago. The elder daughter of Pasupuleti Murali Krishna, a farmer from Eluru in West Godavari in Andhra Pradesh, Rupini graduated in engineering and got a job with Capgemini in Gachibowli.
She was in love with Sandeep and though her father was against a love marriage, she insisted on marrying him.
They got married in March this year and were living in a rented house at Chitrapuri Colony in Raidurgam.
All went well until her in-laws Satyanarayana and Lalitha started demanding dowry.
“Keeping in mind that they could not get dowry due to their son’s love marriage, Lalitha and Satyanarayana harassed Rupini. As I have two daughters, they demanded Rupini get her share of the property as dowry,” said Murali, Rupini’s father.
“I along with my relatives visited my daughter’s house in Gachibowli and tried to convince her in-laws and husband, but they demanded dowry,” he continued.
In August, Sandeep’s parents came to the city and Rupini was under even more pressure. Murali and a cousin went to Rupini’s house on Tuesday and requested her in-laws to wait for some time for the property share.
Murali left for his village the next day but his daughter called him again and said she was being subjected to unbearable harassment from her husband and in-laws.
“As soon as I got down from the bus at Eluru, I got a call from my daughter complaining of harassment. I immediately came back to the city. When I tried to convince the in-laws of Rupini, they abused me and threatened my daughter,” alleged Murali.
Raidurgam inspector Ram Babu said that on Sunday morning Murali went out to get breakfast. When he returned, the house was locked from inside. He broke open the door and went inside to see his daughter hanging from the ceiling. With the help of the neighbours, she was taken to Sunshine Hospital, where the doctors declared her brought dead.
The inspector said that Sandeep and his parents have been booked under section 304 B (dowry death) of the Indian Penal Code.
Sandeep has been taken into custody for questioning. The body of Rupini has been handed over to her family after conducting the post-mortem examination at Osmania General Hospital mortuary.
