Forty-eight days. Less than two months. Less than a sixth of a year.
Vishakha Tilkar was alive for 26 years and her life was allegedly made so miserable by her doctor husband and in-laws in such a short span that she felt compelled to die by suicide.
Vishakha, who lived with her husband in Thane near Mumbai, was thrashed by her in-laws for speaking to a female neighbour, but the harassment was not merely physical, her family has alleged. The couple’s home in Ambernath was peppered with CCTV cameras both inside and outside and her husband, Nitin Tilkar, kept an eye on her every move, stripping her of every shred of privacy.
The couple got married on April 30. Everything was fine before the wedding, but the situation changed soon after, Vishakha’s family said. They alleged that her in-laws were upset because they did not receive the amount of gifts or the level of “respect” they desired during the wedding.
“She was constantly pressured to bring jewellery and money from her parents’ home,” said a family member.
“Nitin Tilkar had installed CCTV cameras inside and outside the house to monitor her every move. Whenever she spoke to anyone, she would be brutally beaten upon returning home. Two days before she died by suicide, she was thrashed for talking to a female neighbour. Driven to despair, she took her own life,” he added.
Before the suicide, Vishakha had told her mother about the abuse she was enduring, the family said, adding that her parents were in the process of bringing her back home when they received the news that she had hanged herself.
A case has been registered at the Shivajinagar Police Station in Ambernath against Nitin Tilkar, his mother Chhaya, and brother Ninad for mental and physical harassment and abetment to suicide. Nitin has been arrested and a hunt is on for the other two, said an official.
