Ten days after a 45-year-old woman died by suicide in Kalamboli, the police have booked her son-in-law and his mother. In a video found on her mobile phone, she has said that she is taking the extreme step owing to the continuous physical and mental harassment on her and her daughter by the duo.
The woman, who lived in sector 14, had got her 22-year-old daughter married to her elder sister’s son. According to a complaint filed by the daughter, a few days after the wedding, her husband and his mother started abusing and assaulting her, claiming that the ‘marriage gifts’ were of low quality. The daughter suffered miscarriage twice in 2019. Later, after she conceived, her husband left for Saudi Arabia for work.
The complainant said the mother-in-law and her sister-in-law then forced her out of their Andheri house and asked her to stay with her mother. “She delivered a premature baby with complications and all the while none from her in-laws’ family helped them financially. On multiple occasions, the complainant claimed, the mother-daughter duo abused and assaulted her and her mother but since they wanted to reconcile, they did not come to the police,” an officer from Kalamboli police station said.
Even after her husband was back, she tried going back to his house but was denied entry. A case under section 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at Kalamboli police station while a domestic violence case was registered in Panvel magistrate court.
“With all the complications in the daughter’s life, her mother started having medical issues and on October 2, she took her life leaving behind a video on her phone,” the officer said.
A case under section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the IPC was registered against the mother and son on Wednesday.
(If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to a mental health specialist.) Helplines – Aasra: 022 2754 6669; Sneha India Foundation: +914424640050; and Sanjivini: 011-24311918