A young doctor at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College died by suicide after another doctor from the same institute, with whom she had made plans for marriage, backed out because her family could not meet his exorbitant dowry demands.
The deceased was identified as Shahna, 28, while accused is another resident trainee doctor, E A Ruwise, who is also the state president of Kerala Medical Post-Graduate Association, a body of resident trainee doctors in the state.
According to Malayalam media, when Shahna failed to report to duty, colleagues found her, unconscious at the post-graduate students hostel after she allegedly died by suicide Monday night.
A suicide note found in her room pointed to Ruwise’s exorbitant dowry and asset demands, leading to him being accused under the Dowry Prohibition Act and charged with abetment to suicide. He was subsequently taken into custody by the police.
The police claimed that Ruwise and Shahna, who were initially friends, had planned to marry. However, Ruwise withdrew from the arrangement when Shahna’s family from Venjaramoodu in Thiruvananthapuram couldn’t fulfill the dowry demand. Shahna’s father, Abdul Azeez, who had worked in the Middle East for many years, passed away two years ago.
“The marriage was fixed and she was very happy. Her family was willing to give Rs 50 lakh, 50 sovereigns of gold and a car. But Ruwise reportedly demanded 150 sovereigns of gold, 15 acres of land and a BMW car. Shahna’s family could not meet such a demand as they did not have any income other than a house situated on 15 cents of land, which her mother might have planned to sell off for the daughter’s marriage,” advocate S Sudheer, their neighbour and Nellanad village panchayat member said to Indian Express.
He said: “When Ruwise refused to marry her because of dowry, she was mentally shattered. Since the wedding was announced, she could not face others after the incident. We have learnt he had even publicly insulted her in front of other students and colleagues.”
