- The woman's family said she was harassed for dowry and was also taunted because of her skin colour
- Her husband, who is also a former software engineer, has been detained
- The couple have a child who is less than two years old
A 27-year-old techie was found hanging at her home in south Bengaluru's Suddaguntepalya on Tuesday night and her parents have filed a police complaint alleging that she died by suicide because she was constantly harassed for dowry.
Shilpa had been married to Praveen, also a former software professional, for about two-and-a-half years, and they have a child who is a year and six months old.
Shilpa had completed her Bachelor of Engineering and worked as a software engineer at Infosys before she got married. Praveen was also a software engineer and worked at Oracle, but resigned a year after his marriage and started a food business.
According to the complaint filed by Shilpa's parents, Praveen's family had initially demanded Rs 15 lakh in cash, 150 grams of gold jewellery and household articles at the time of marriage. Despite fulfilling these demands, Shilpa's in-laws allegedly pressured her for additional money and valuables after the wedding. The family has claimed that repeated taunts and mental harassment over dowry led to Shilpa dying by suicide.
Shilpa's family has also alleged that she was subjected to taunts over her skin colour.
"You are dark and not a good match for my son. Leave him, we will find him a better bride." the mother-in-law allegedly said, as per the police complaint.
The complaint further states that, six months ago, Pravin's family demanded Rs 5 lakh to help with the business, which Shilpa's family eventually paid.
The Suddaguntepalya Police have registered a case of dowry harassment and unnatural death, and Pravin has been detained for questioning. An assistant commissioner of police-level officer is heading the investigation and Shilpa's body was handed over to her parents after a post-mortem.
"All the allegations have been made by the victim's family. We have registered a case of dowry death as per protocol. The husband is being questioned and we are trying to ascertain the veracity of the allegations," said a police official.
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