Kerala: 27-year-old woman starved for dowry, weighed just 20 kg at death

Follow us on

In a shocking case from Kerala's Kollam, a 27-year-old woman was starved to death for dowry so much so that she was reduced to a "bag of a skeleton" and weighed just 20 kgs on her death. Thushara, who was a native of Karunagappally, was allegedly denied proper food by her husband and mother-in-law. For days, she survived only on soaked rice and sugar syrup before she breathed her last at a government hospital. 

According to police officials, Thushara weighed just 20 kg at the time of her death on the midnight of March 21 due to illness and uneasiness. Her husband Chandulal and his mother Geetha Lal were arrested and remanded on Friday. The alleged torture on the woman came to light in a probe conducted by police after her death. 

"She looked like a bag of a skeleton with hardly any flesh on her body. She weighed just 20 kg. A detailed inquiry has thrown light to the cruelty. Her relatives alleged that the torture was to get more dowry," a police official told PTI.

Thushara's mother Vijayalakshmi alleged the accused had been torturing her daughter for the past five years and had not allowed the family members to meet her for one year.

"My daughter had suffered gruesome torture. We did not give any police complaint as we feared it would put my daughter's life in danger," she said.

A Chandulal neighbour said the woman was allegedly tortured mentally and physically by the husband and her in-laws.

The woman's husband used to do odd jobs other than welding works. The couple married in 2013. At the time of the marriage, the woman's family had given some gold ornaments and money to the man's family and had promised to give Rs 2 lakh later.

The deceased woman had two children -- the younger aged 1.5 years and the other three -- and both of them are healthy, the police official said.