The village of Mettukulam in Tamil Nadu was thrown into turmoil recently when the harassment of a young pregnant woman over dowry payments drove her to take her own life. Nageswary, just 22 years old, had been married to Aravindan for less than a year when the harassment began. The couple had received fifteen sovereigns of gold as dowry before their wedding, but Aravindan started demanding more after his wife became pregnant. Nageswary’s in-laws and a relative also joined in the abuse.
Although Nageswary tried to escape the harassment by fleeing to her parents’ home in a nearby village, her husband would always come to apologize and bring her back. Tragically, Nageswary was unable to escape the abuse, and she consumed poison while at her husband’s house. She was seven months pregnant at the time and died later in hospital.
After Aravindan’s family refused to accept Nageswary’s body, her relatives staged a protest and marched to Aravindan’s house with the body and stillborn foetus. The police initially foiled their attempt to bury the body and foetus on the premises, but a crowd of around a hundred locals later forcibly carried out the burial.
The incident has sparked outrage, and the police have arrested Aravindan, his mother, his father, and his relative for their role in the harassment and death of Nageswary. As one protester put it, ‘We want justice for Nageswary. We demand that the accused be punished severely for driving her to suicide.’
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