A city doctor was sentenced by Mahila Court to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment for harassing his wife and thereby, driving her to commit suicide.
Meena Satheesh, Judge of Mahila Court, convicted P. Anil Thomas (37), a doctor who had married Nisha Jacob alias Suma, a dentist in Quilon in 1999. After the marriage, the couple had moved to Chennai and were living in Egmore Railway Quarters. Thomas was working as a medical officer in Railway Hospital, Sulurpet. They had two daughters.
According to the prosecution, the couple had frequent quarrels and Thomas used to beat his wife. Nisha was not allowed to talk to her parents, but she used to send emails to her brother, working in Saudi Arabia. In the mails, she stated that her husband was not allowing her to visit her parents in Kerala or even talk with them over phone.
On June 27, 2007, Nisha was on her way to her parents’ house along with her children. While she was sitting in the general compartment of Trivandrum Mail, Anil Thomas came there, took the tickets saying that he would arrange for berths, and then tore up the tickets.
He brought them back to their house and beat her up. Nisha hung herself the very next day.
On the basis of complaint by her parents, the Egmore police registered a case and charged Anil Thomas for the offence under Section 498(A)(Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting to cruelty) and 306 (Abetment of suicide).
