Mumbai, January 05: A 20-year-old woman committed suicide on Sunday by hanging herself in her Santa Cruz home after being reportedly pressurised into an abortion by her husband and mother-in-law. Both have been arrested following a complaint by the girl’s father.
The father of the deceased, Sarika Powar, has alleged in his complaint to the police that she had been put under tremendous pressure from her husband Umesh, 24, and mother-in-law Pratiksha, 40, ever since their marriage a few months ago.
Umesh works as a labour contractor and resides with his parents at Beema chawl in Santa Cruz. “Around 6 pm on Sunday, when Powar returned home, he found the door locked from inside. He knocked several times, but when there was no response, he peeped in through a window to find Sarika hanging from the ceiling,” said assistant police inspector Jitendra Kamble of the
Vakola police station.
“Umesh then requested his neighbour’s kid to go inside through the window to open the door. He rushed Sarika to a nearby hospital, where she was declared dead before admission,” Kamble said.
“Sarika and Powar were married few months ago. Sarika wanted children, but Umesh was not willing to be a father yet. Because of this, he made her undergo an abortion about three months ago,” said another police officer.
“Powar and his mother Pratiksha have been arrested and charged under section 498(A) of the IPC. After being produced in court on Monday, both have been remanded in police custody till January 9,” said Kamble.
–Agencies–