Telangana: Harassed for dowry, 31-year-old government staffer immolates herself

HYDERABAD: In two separate incidents, two women killed themselves by setting themselves ablaze.
In the first case, a 31-year-old government employee immolated herself at her parent’s place in Barkatpura after allegedly facing dowry harassment. In the other case, a 35-year-old woman killed her in a similar manner at Dundigal village.
31-year-old Karrolla Gauthami, who used to work as a computer operator at a government organisation, had gotten married to Madhukar in June last year.“At the time of marriage, the victim’s family had given a dowry of Rs 18 lakh to the groom’s family,” said Kachiguda inspector Habeebullah Khan. The victim, for the past few months, had allegedly been mentally and physically harassed by her husband and in-laws in a bid to get additional dowry.
“Last month, she went to her parent’s house for Bonalu and stayed back. Her in-laws also did not come to take her home,” said the inspector. Early on Tuesday morning, when her parents were asleep, the victim poured kerosene and set herself ablaze. “The victim died on the spot. The family of the victim registered a case against her in-laws stating that she committed suicide because of dowry harassment. We are still investigating the case,” added the officer. Police have booked the husband, mother-in-law and sister-law of the victim.
In the other case, a 35-year-old labourer set herself ablaze at Dundigal village on Monday. The deceased, Bhagya, allegedly had an extramarital affair for the past 10 years. On Monday, her house owner raised an objection over an unknown visitor late at night . “There was no suicide note, but it was found that her husband was aware of the affair,” said a police officer. Her paramour was booked for abetment of suicide.