‘Took Loan to Pay Dowry’: Family of Kerala Woman Starved to Death

Thushara reportedly survived only on soaked rice and sugar syrup before she breathed her last.

(Photo Courtesy: The News Minute)

Thushara’s parents gave her 20 sovereigns of gold, when she married Chandulal in 2013. Along with this, they signed a “written agreement” promising Rs 2 lakh and a share in property to their daughter, as dowry, three years after the wedding. She got married in December 2013 and went to her husband’s house in Kollam’s Kerala.

Almost six years later, in March 2019, Thushara’s marriage culminated to her death as she succumbed to prolonged abuse by her in-laws.

According to The News Minute, Thushara was tortured, mentally abused and starved to death. She was also reportedly kept under “black magic spell” by her in-laws. She was denied food and was only served sugared water and soaked rice.

Speaking to the news website, Thushara’s aunt, who did not want to be named, said:

“When we saw her body at the mortuary, she was nothing but a skeleton with skin and hair.” 

At the time of her death, Thushara weighed only 20 kg. Her husband Chandulal and her mother-in-law have been arrested by the Kerala Police.

A Loan to Pay Dowry

Thushara’s family had taken a loan for the wedding and after they repaid it earlier in March, the family applied for another loan – to pay the dowry.

“Since we could not give the Rs 2 lakh after three years, our family members decided to pay Rs 1 lakh extra to compensate for the delay. And so, we took a loan of Rs 3 lakh, which will get sanctioned this month. Our family had decided to go in person to their house and give this amount. But that was when we received the tragic news of her death,” the aunt told TNM.

‘In-Laws Turned Her Against Our Family’

Thushara’s aunt also alleged the in-laws turned her against the family, just three months after the wedding, when they allegedly started torturing her.

Speaking to TNM, her aunt said that their means of communication with her was disconnected and Chandulal “took away her phone.”

Her family tried to establish contact and visit her, when Thushara was pregnant with her first child. However, Chandulal’s family said that they would take care of the delivery.

“Thushara would say, ‘I have no problem here; I am fine. Why have you come here?’. We assumed our visits would cause her problems and so we decided to stay away for some time,” her aunt recalls.

When the second child was born, however, Thushara’s mother and aunt were not allowed to see her, with Chandulal threatening them.

“He even said that if we tried to intervene or see her again, we will be taking Thushara’s dead body with us,” the aunt says, adding, “Although he tried to stop us, we somehow managed to see Thushara in the hospital. Even when nobody was in the room except her mother and me, Thushara maintained that she was fine. She asked us the same question: ‘Why are you visiting me frequently and disturbing me?’ She maintained a similar answer when her neighbours tried to enquire about her situation,” TNM quoted the aunt.

Speaking to the news website, her mother said:

“I thought my daughter was leading a comfortable life. I never suspected anything untoward.”

(With inputs from The News Minute.)