Mumbai: A 20-year-old woman, a resident of Cheeta Camp in Trombay near Mankhurd, died by suicide following constant physical abuse and assault by her husband Ram Sakkarpani.
The complainant is the victim’s mother – Kamachi Arundudhiyar (42), a homemaker, and the victim’s father a BMC employee, working on a contract basis at Trombay Jetty.
According to Ms Kamachi’s statement to the police, her daughter – Varshini – married Ram Sakkarpani in April 2023. The couple lived close to Kamachi’s residence. “After their marriage, we frequently went to their house to simply meet or check on my daughter when I saw her getting hit by her husband brutally. We stopped him but our daughter told us later that such incidents kept happening with her,” said Ms Kamachi.
The reason for the assault is Varshini’s constant refusal to pay money to Sakkarpani which he kept demanding to buy alcohol, the victim’s mother said. Sakkarpani being unemployed didn’t have money which he forced his wife to earn and make money so he could buy alcohol.
Kamachi, when asked why she didn’t inform the police about the abuse and assault, said it was because she wanted her daughter to keep the marriage intact. Kamachi also added that they paid her daughter so she could hand it over to her husband, to avoid fights that might lead to the end of their marriage.
On May 29, Varshini told her mother that she was going to Juhu Chowpatty with her husband and since then she stopped responding to calls or messages. Despite repeated calls, Varshini didn’t respond, up until Thursday afternoon when Kamachi’s son got the news about his sister’s demise.
According to the police, Varshini hanged herself with a dupatta after locking herself inside the house. She was taken to Shatabdi Hospital but the doctor declared her dead before arrival.
On Thursday late night, after the FIR was registered by Ms Kamachi, police arrested Ram Sakkarpani under section 304B (dowry death) of the Indian Penal Code.
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