Kerala dowry death case: Charge sheet reveals victim committed suicide due to harassment

Kerala Police on Friday submitted the charge sheet with regards to the Vismaya case in which an Ayurveda medical student was found dead in her husband's house under mysterious circumstances. This report came after the victim had complained of dowry harassment.

Kollam Rural SP KB Ravi, who arrived at the local court to submit the charge sheet, told the media that the case had shocked the conscience of the state of Kerala.

The 500-page charge sheet says that Vismaya committed suicide due to dowry harassment. There were about 102 witnesses and 56 pieces of evidence in connection with the case. The evidence also included digital proofs of Vismaya being tortured by her husband.

"Initially section 174 of CrPC (suicide) was charged in relation to the case. Later during the course of the investigation, we added section 304 B of the IPC (Dowry death) among others," Ravi said.

According to Kollam Rural SP KB Ravi and the Kerala police, there are several circumstantial pieces of evidence crucial in proving the husband guilty.

The audio messages that she had sent with regards to the torture she had faced at her husband's house is a piece of major digital evidence that has been mentioned in the charge sheet. Vismaya, 22, was found dead in the house of her husband S Kiran Kumar at Sasthamkotta in Kollam district on June 21.

Kumar, who was an assistant motor vehicle inspector, was arrested. As a result of this, the state government later dismissed him from service. A day before the incident, the victim, Vismaya, had sent WhatsApp messages to her relatives over the alleged harassment by Kumar. She had also sent her relatives the photos of wounds and marks of beatings on her body.

Vismaya's father told a TV channel that a whopping 100 sovereigns of gold (equals 800 grams), over one acre of land, and a car worth ₹10 lakhs were given as dowry to Kiran Kumar during the wedding in 2020. But Kumar did not like the car and wanted ₹10 lakhs in cash. When denied this horrendous demand, Kumar tortured Vismaya, her father revealed.

Image Credits - ANI/rep