Vismaya, the 22-year-old Ayurveda medical student, was found dead in her husband’s house on 21 June 2021. A day before the incident, she had sent WhatsApp messages to relatives and friends saying her husband had beaten her over a car that was given as part of the dowry
Vismaya and S Kiran Kumar got married in May 2020. Kumar was allegedly unhappy with a new car gifted to the couple by Vismaya’s father.
The verdict is out in the sensational Vismaya dowry death case in Kerala. The additional sessions court in Kollam held the husband, S Kiran Kumar, guilty of the death of Kiran Kumar Vismaya. The Ayurveda medical student was found dead in Kumar’s house under mysterious circumstances after she complained about dowry harassment.
The case
The 22-year-old woman died by hanging in her husband’s house at Sasthamkotta in the Kollam district on 21 June 2021. An assistant motor vehicle inspector with the state Motor Vehicle Department, Kumar went into hiding after the death.
A day before the incident, Vismaya had sent WhatsApp messages to her relatives over the alleged harassment by Kumar over dowry along with photographs of bruises on her body. Her father had told a TV channel that 100 sovereigns of gold (one sovereign is equal to 8 grammes gold), over one-acre land, and a new car worth Rs 11 lakh were given as dowry to Kumar during the wedding in May 2020.
Screenshots of Vismaya’s chats showed that Kumar did not like the car he was gifted and hence beat up his wife. He wanted the money spent on the car in cash instead, but when was told that it wasn’t possible he harassed Vismaya.
“When I opened the door, he pulled my hair, hit me and abused me,” Vismaya had messaged her friend.
A family friend Sakeer Husain had alleged that Kumar would harass his wife, demanding more money. “The family had even thought about legal remedies against Kiran Kumar. She had been even reluctant to stay at his house. On many occasions, Kiran had forcibly taken Vismaya to his house,” he had said after the suicide.
The case shook the state, leading to a campaign against dowry and Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan held a day-long fast at Raj Bhavan as part of it. He instructed the universities in Kerala to ask students to give an undertaking that they would not seek or give dowry. He wanted that if the students are later found violating this and if a court indicts them, the university should cancel their degrees, reports The Indian Express.
The arrest
After Vismaya’s death, her family filed a complaint with the police. A local court remanded Kumar, an assistant vehicle inspector with the state transport department, in judicial custody after the police slapped IPC section 304 (B), which pertains to dowry death, on him and arrested him. He was also charged with 498A (cruelty by husband or a relative), 306 (abetment of suicide), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation). Subsequently, Kumar was dismissed from service by the Government of Kerala in August 2021.
He was later released on bail.
The chargesheet
In September 2021, the Kerala police submitted a 500-page chargehseet in the case that said that Vismaya died by suicide because of dowry harassment. There were 102 witnesses and 56 pieces of evidence including digital ones.
The audio messages Vismaya had sent about her torture were part of the digital evidence.
More evidence
A day before the verdict, an audio clip surfaced in which Visamaya is purportedly heard telling her father that “she is scared of being beaten up”.
In the clip, a woman, who is reported to be Vismaya, is heard saying that if she is left there, she “might do something”. She is also heard saying that she “wants to come back” and “cannot stay there anymore.”
“If I’m made to live here, you will not see me again. I will do something, I cannot bear it anymore. Acha (dad), I want to come back. I’m scared, I will be beaten,” Vismaya is heard saying in tears. Though her father consoles her, she continues to cry, according to a report in The News Minute.
The verdict
The defence argued that Vismaya was depressed and the audio clips cannot be accepted as evidence.
But the court on Monday found Kumar guilty under IPC sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 498-A (any wilful conduct which is of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide), besides the one on dowry death.
His bail, which was granted by the Supreme Court, has also been cancelled by the court, and so Kumar now faces arrest for Vismaya’s death.
The quantum of punishment for Kiran Kumar would be pronounced on Tuesday.
Dowry cases in Kerala
The Visamaya case drew attention to how prevalent dowry is in Kerala, which is ranked high on the human development index including female life expectancy.
According to data tabled in the Kerala Assembly on 21 February, the Kerala police registered 223 cases under the Dowry Prohibition Act from 2011 until February 10, 2022. Seventy-nine per cent of these cases were charge-sheeted, but the conviction rate hovered at a low four per cent. Out of the 176 cases charge-sheeted accused were convicted only in seven cases, reports The Federal.
What the law says
The Dowry Prevention Act enacted in May 1961 intended to prevent the giving and receiving of dowry.
The Dowry Prohibition rules of 1985 stipulate that both parties should maintain a list of gifts.
In February 2022, the Supreme Court said the word “dowry” ought to be given a wider interpretation to include any demand made on a woman, whether in respect of a property or a valuable security of any nature.
With inputs from agencies
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.