A woman allegedly consumed poison after suffering substantial physical and psychological abuse from her husband and in-laws in the Tiruppur district of Tamil Nadu, police said. The victim, Rithanya, 27, married to garment business owner and politician Kavin Kumar on April 11, 2022.
Her family have 300 sovereigns of gold, a Volvo car worth ₹70 lakh in dowry and a wedding cost ₹2.5 crore. The family had pledged to provide an additional 200 sovereigns of gold following the wedding.
Even with the added extravagant dowry, harassment commenced just ten days after the marriage. Rithanya was tortured by her husband Kavin Kumar, father-in-law Easwaramoorthy, and mother-in-law Chithradevi, to collect the remaining 200 sovereigns.
On Saturday afternoon, after visiting the Thalakkarai Lakshmi Narasimha Perumal Temple, she bought pesticide from Seyur and proceeded to the Mondipalayam Perumal Temple when she ingested it inside her car parked along the road. When locals saw her, they called police, who took her to Avinashi Government Hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival.
Just before she took her own life, Rithanya sent an emotional voice note to her father on WhatsApp, directly implicating her husband and in-laws. Rithanya explained the pain and trauma she had experienced, saying Kavin Kumar said he would kill himself if I talked about the abuse he was doing to her.
Rithanya’s death caused a public outcry. Her family protested outside the hospital and staged a road block to advocate for action to be taken. The Tiruppur RDO conducted an inquiry in to the suicide which led to police registering an offense of abetment to suicide against Kavin Kumar, Easwaramoorthy, and Chithradevi and have all been arrested and remanded into custody.
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