Dowry drives HDFC manager to suicide in Mumbai

A day after Dahisar resident Deepti Chauhan committed suicide allegedly because her in-laws cast aspersions on her character, an HDFC Bank manager killed herself after being mentally and physically harassed by her husband and his parents for dowry.

Komal Cheda, 31, hanged herself from the ceiling of her fourth floor apartment in Matunga’s Hindu colony around 6.15pm on Sunday. She was taken to a private hospital, but declared dead before admission.

A case under various sections of the Dowry Act has been registered against Komal’s husband, Ruchir, 31, her father-in-law, Mahendra Cheda, and mother-in-law, Neeru. Ruchir and his mother were arrested on Monday and remanded in police custody for three days by the Kurla Metropolitan Magistrate’s court, said Sanjay Baviskar, DCP (zone IV).

Komal, a post-graduate, was working as wealth manager with HDFC Bank for five years. She was earning a salary and perks totalling Rs15 lakh per annum. Komal and Ruchir had a love marriage in 2008. In his complaint, Komal’s father, Dr

Navinchandra Dedia, 62, said Komal’s ordeal started immediately after marriage. Her bankrupt husband and parents-in-law kept demanding money from Komal to repay their loan. “They did not allow her to employ a maid. Her father-in-law took the money after selling her Swift,” alleged Dedia.

“Komal even gave Rs2 lakh to Ruchir’s younger brother, Kavil, for higher studies in the US.” The police are awaiting the post-mortem report from Sion hospital.