New Delhi: A 26-year-old woman in South Delhi’s Defence Colony area has filed a complaint alleging threats, physical and mental abuse by her husband and in-laws, who are based in Kerala, the police said on Monday.
According to the woman’s complaint, her husband, Amalkrishnan, a resident of Thrissur district in Kerala, and his mother forcibly expelled her from her matrimonial home on June 26. She claimed the move followed years of mistreatment, beginning in 2018, for not meeting their financial demands.
She further revealed that they not only threatened her and her parents, but also with the help of Pookod Ward Member Shekhar tried to coerce her into signing mutual divorce papers and an agreement stating they hadn’t taken any gold or cash from her and her parents.
A demand for her to remain silent regarding her husband’s alleged affair with a student at the Acharya Institute, Bengaluru, was also part of their coercive tactics.
She went on to describe the loss of her mangal sutra, wedding ring, wedding attire, photographs, and albums.
As per the complaint, she got married on August 23, 2018 according to the Hindu marriage law. Her husband is a Brahmin who works as a priest in Kerala.
The woman alleged that her husband’s family initially agreed not to seek any monetary assistance from her before their marriage, despite caste differences. However, immediately after their wedding, they began making financial demands. They requested her parents to open a fixed deposit in her husband’s name for Rs 3 lakh to serve as collateral for their chit in a co-operative society bank.
“The family later asked to pledge her gold for a gold loan to settle their debts and even suggested her father to sell his property in Kerala to clear their housing loan of Rs 10 lakh taken from the co-operative society bank,” as per the complaint.
The financial demands did not stop there; they also demanded appliances, furniture, car, bike, and even suggested that she seek employment as a housemaid in a foreign country to support their financial needs.
The woman claimed that she was taken to different locations in Kerala under the false pretences of black magic rituals, all while being instructed not to inform her parents.
She went on to detail the physical and mental abuse she endured through the years, emphasising the discrimination she faced for belonging to a lower caste.
The complaint outlines how she was publicly insulted and referred to by her caste name. She claimed that when she couldn’t meet their monetary demands, her husband often threatened her and instructed her to leave their home, even in front of her parents.
The complaint also mentions substantial financial contributions made by her and her family, including cash gifts, purchases like a Bajaj Avenger bBike (currently used by her brother-in-law), home appliances, a Maruti Esteem car, and personal expenses such as educational fees, which were primarily covered by her parents.
Following her departure to her parents’ home, the woman alleged that her mother-in-law began defaming her before her relatives, falsely claiming that she had left her husband and implying that it had led to his alcoholism, although, according to her, he had always indulged in drinking, smoking, and chewing tobacco.
A senior police officer said that a case has been registered under Sections 489-A (husband or the relative of the husband of a woman subjects such woman to cruelty), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code at the Defence Colony police station and a probe has been initiated.
–IANS