Visits by husband’s paramour to the house and humiliation of being asked to address her as ‘sister’ broke her spirit.
A woman, who was six months into her pregnancy, hanged herself on Sunday.
HS Leelavathi, 21, took the extreme step in the bedroom of their leased apartment. In his complaint, Leelavathi’s father HS Puttaswamy said dowry harassment drove her to end her life. The police also linked it to her husband’s affair with another woman. Neighbours told the police that they heard the couple quarrelling around 3am on Sunday.
When questioned, her husband, Manjunatha, 24, told police that around 5.30am, he found Leelavathi hanging from the ceiling fan; she had used a nylon rope. He also said that before informing the police, he brought his wife’s body down and laid it on a bed.
Leelavathi, a resident of Devarachikkanahalli, married Manjunatha in March. “Manjunatha’s relationship with a woman is the reason for his wife taking this extreme step,” the police said.
Manjunatha was in love with another woman before his marriage. He used to bring her home. His parents objected but Manjunatha ignored them, the police said.
His parents were worried and they finally convinced him to marry Leelavathi, his cousin. They thought after marriage, he would be devoted to his wife and cut off his relationship with his girlfriend.
Leelavathi’s parents had given him a gold chain and watch as dowry. They also had spent Rs1 lakh for the marriage.
Later, Manjunatha demanded a house. Puttaswamy finally leased a house in Devarachikkanahalli. His daughter and Manjunatha into that house, said the police.
Manjunatha was also an alcoholic. He pledged the gold chain given to him as dowry. He demanded that Leelavathi get the lease agreement paper from her parents so that he could pledge it to buy a car, said Puttaswamy.
But what hurt Leelavathi was his love affair. Since the couple was staying away from their parents, Manjunatha started bringing his girlfriend to the new house.
When Leelavathi objected to this, Manjunatha told her that she should treat the visitor like her ‘sister’. He asked Leelavathi to address his girlfriend as akka (sister).
Neighbours told police that around 3am, they heard the couple quarrelling. They said such the duo quarrelled frequently.
Around 3.30am, Manjunatha retired to his bedroom and Leelavathi committed suicide, the police said. Leelavathi and Manjunatha were working in different garments firms.
Leelavathi’s body was handed over to her family after postmortem.
Puttaswamy has filed a dowry harassment case against Manjunatha with the Mico Layout police.
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