By R Krishnamoor
Chitradevi, mother-in-law of A. Rithanya, 27, who died by suicide due to alleged dowry harassment in Tiruppur last week, was arrested on Friday (July 4, 2025) by the Cheyur police following a personal appeal by the victim鈥檚 father Annadurai, to Superintendent of Police (SP) Yadhav Girish Ashok.
鈥淲e have made an appeal for a comprehensive investigation and expressed concern over the tardy pace of the investigation. The call records of my (late) daughter and son-in-law Kavinkumar will shed more light on the case,鈥 Mr. Annadurai said after meeting the SP.
While Kavinkumar and his father Eashwaramoorthy were arrested after the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) in the case, the police had purportedly delayed apprehending Chitradevi on health grounds.
The victim鈥檚 family contended that while Kavinkumar physically abused Rithanya and Eashwaramoorthy subjected her to verbal abuse, Chitradevi tortured her by starving her and locking her in a room. Unable to bear the abuse, Rithanya died by suicide 78 days after the wedding, leaving behind an audio message to her parents describing the circumstances that led to her death.
Rithanya鈥檚 husband and in-laws had reportedly tormented her and pressured her to demand additional dowry from her parents of her own volition.
According to the lawyers representing the victim鈥檚 family, the accused had harassed her for 200 sovereigns of gold jewellery, in addition to the 300 sovereigns and a luxury car worth 鈧65 lakh that were given as dowry at the time of the wedding. The legal team said the details of the dowry demand and harassment were belatedly included in the FIR.
Bail hearing postponed
Meanwhile, the hearing on the bail application of Kavinkumar and Eashwaramoorthy was postponed to July 7 by Tiruppur District Principal and Sessions Court Judge Gunasekaran, as the accused sought time to respond to the petition filed by the victim鈥檚 family opposing the bail plea. The victim鈥檚 legal team pointed out that there is no precedent of the accused in a dowry case applying for bail within 10 days of the incident.
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State鈥檚 health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416 and Sneha鈥檚 suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)