Tears that don’t stop flowing, an apology, and a lament that she was called “cursed” for months after her marriage – a heartbreaking video of a woman who died by suicide in Dehradun, allegedly because she was being harassed by her husband and in-laws, is being widely shared.
Srishti Kandhari, a government teacher, married Saurabh Raturi, who is also a government employee, in November last year, and they lived in the Doiwala area, about 20 km from Dehradun city. In her police complaint, Kandhari’s mother has alleged her daughter was harassed mentally and physically for dowry and her husband and in-laws kept calling her “unlucky” and “inauspicious”.
In a 90-second video she recorded before hanging herself, Kandhari is seen sobbing and wiping tears off her face, managing to utter her first words only 35 seconds after she begins recording.
“Sorry mummy, main aise ja rahi hoon (Sorry, I am leaving like this),” she blurts out between sobs. “Everything has become so strange. I have been enduring this for six months… Now I can’t endure it anymore. Their mindset can never change. They keep blaming me for things that happened after our marriage. (Calling me) ‘manhoos, manhoos’ (cursed),” she says as the video ends.
The teacher died by suicide on Wednesday and her mother has filed a police complaint. Kandhari’s husband, Saurabh, mother-in-law Parvina, and sister-in-law Charu are named in the First Information Report.
Vandana Verma, Circle Officer, Doiwala, said the FIR has been registered under sections related to dowry death and a post-mortem has been conducted.
“We received information that a woman had died by suicide by hanging herself and a police team, as well as an FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory) team, conducted an inspection of the scene. A post-mortem examination has been conducted. The woman’s mother has alleged harassment by her in-laws,” said Verma.
“She got married eight months ago. The woman was a government teacher and her husband also works for a government department,” the officer added.
