The city police on Wednesday arrested the husband and mother-in-law of a 31-year-old woman who was recently found dead in a well along with her nine-month-old child at Vellannur near Kunnamangalam. The two - Ragilesh and Lalitha - were charged under Sections 304 (B) (Dowry Death) and 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.
The police said the incident leading to the arrest of the two took place on November 11. The woman, Nijina, allegedly ended her life unable to withstand the torture of her husband and mother-in-law in the name of dowry.
The case was investigated by an Assistant Commissioner of Police as Nijina’s relatives had accused the two of murder attempts and other previous incidents of assaults. Police sources said the mother and the son were also suspected of beating up the victim a day before her death. They were reportedly away from home when the bodies were found in the well. Their absence at the funeral ceremony too had raised suspicions, the sources said. The two were remanded in judicial custody by the Kunnamangalam Judicial First Class Magistrate Court for 14 days. To gather further evidence, the police will file the custody application in the court on Friday.
