Pics: Umesh Marpalli
Daijiworld Media Network - Karkala (UM)

Karkala, Feb 20: A married woman allegedly committed suicide by hanging at her in-laws' house in Bailoor here on the night of Friday February 19. The incident came to light on Saturday February 20. The woman's family however alleged that she was murdered by her in-laws.

Rubina

Bi Fathima (mother-in-law) and Haseena (sister-in-law)

The deceased has been identified as Rubina (27), wife of Asif Abdulla. She was orginally from Mukka, but her parents now live in Katipalla.

Rubina had married Asif four years ago and the couple was blessed with two-and-a-half-year-old son. Asif is employed in Dubai.

It is learnt that at around 9 pm on Friday, Rubina had called her relatives on phone and spoken to them as usual. At around 10.30 pm, her husband's brother called Rubina's brother Abdul Rehman and told him to come to their house and 'see what Rubina had done and the condition she was in'.

Abdul and other family members immediately left for her in-laws' house and on reaching there, he found Rubina hanging from the wooden beam on the ceiling in her room. It is alleged that Rubina's in-laws had also called the police and tried to take down her body even before Rubina's family could arrive. However, the neighbours, among whom was one of Rubina's relative, who had by then gathered at the house, made them wait till Rubina's family arrived.

Rubina's brother said that her body had been hanging in an unusual manner, with legs touching the ground and fists open, giving rise to suspicions of foul play. He alleged that she might have been murdered and hanged.

He also claimed that though the door of Rubina's room was fragile and did not require much effort to open, excessive force seemed to have been applied on it. "It looks like it was all staged," Abdul alleged.

Rubina's uncle said, "Those responsible for her death should be punished. Her legs were touching the floor. How can that happen when she was only 5 ft tall and the ceiling was only about 12 ft high? It looks doubtful."

Family sources said that Rubina's father passed away four months ago. "Rubina's brother had told her that he would pick her and bring her to her parental house this Sunday (February 21). So she could not have committed suicide. It looks like she was being harassed for dowry by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Her husband's brother may have assisted them," alleged Rubina's uncle.

Sources said that once in a while Rubina used to complain to her family members that she was being harassed by her mother-in-law Bi Fathima and sister-in-law Haseena Banu. It is learnt Haseena is divorced and stays at her parental house along with her child. There used to be frequent fights between Rubina and Haseena over their children, sources said.

Based on a complaint filed by Rubina's family, the police took Bi Fathima and Haseena Banu for questioning.

Rubina's body was shifted to Manipal hospital for post-mortem. Her husband Asif has arrived from Dubai, but he declined to speak to media.

A case has been registered in Karkala town police station.