Daijiworld Media Network

Kollam, Mar 31: The death of a 27-year-old woman in Kollam has brought to light a case of alleged dowry harassment by her in-laws. At the time of her death, the woman was reduced to a 'bag of skeletons' and weighed just 20 kg due to prolonged starvation.

Tushara, a native of Karunagappally near Kollam, was denied proper food for days and survived only on soaked rice and sugar syrup before she breathed her last at a government hospital, police said, quoting the postmortem report and neighbours.

Tushara's husband Chandulal and his mother Geetha Lal have been arrested and remanded.

At the time of her death on the midnight of March 21 due to illness and uneasiness, the woman weighed just 20 kg, the police said.

The alleged torture of the woman came to light in a probe the police conducted 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 was quoted in media reports.

Tushara leaves behind two children - aged one-and-a-half years and three - and both of them are healthy, the police official said.

Tushara's mother Vijayalakshmi has alleged that the accused had been torturing her daughter for the past five years and had not allowed the family members to meet her for the last 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.

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 lac later.

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