Kerala: Husband and mother-in-law sentenced to life for 'starving' Tushara to death

The mother of Tushara welcomed the verdict, saying that her daughter suffered a lot.

"The dowry harassment started three months after the wedding took place. My daughter suffered a lot there, and despite that, she continued to remain there. Every time she called us, she used to tell us to bring the money, and she did not want us to visit her," she said.

The case began when Tushara was brought dead to a hospital near here in March 2019.

Her family were aghast to see the condition of her body as it weighed just 21 kg, and it was only hair and skin.

Later, it surfaced that Tushara was constantly tortured and she was not given any food or water for days together as she was locked up in a room by her husband and his mother.

She was harassed as they were demanding more dowry, and this torture continued for a long time, and she was not allowed to even spend time with her two little daughters.

Tushara’s parents were also kept at bay by Chandulal and his mother.

The prosecution on Monday said that this was a one-of-a-kind case in our country.

"When the post-mortem report came, it pointed out that there were no food particles in her stomach and her urinary bladder was also totally empty," said the prosecution counsel and added that he is yet to come across any case where a person was starved to death.

"When her girl was admitted to the school, the name of the mother was written as Geethalal. The teacher of the girl child came to know that the mother’s name was Tushara only after the news report came after the ‘death’ of Tushara," the counsel added.

The investigating officer said the probe went well as all the witnesses in the case cooperated with it.