Wedding Called Off for BMW, Land, Gold Dowry Demand, Kerala Doctors Commits Suicide

Thiruvananthapuram: Two days after 26-year-old Dr Shahana, a postgraduate student in the surgery department of the Government Medical College in the Kerala state capital allegedly committed suicide due to a big dowry demand by the groom’s family, a doctor who had allegedly backed out of their marriage proposal was arrested by the police.

Dr Shahana was found unconscious at her apartment and later declared dead at the hospital on Tuesday.

On Thursday, the police arrested the doctor who had allegedly backed out of their marriage proposal as Shahana’s family couldn’t meet the demand for hefty dowry.

Dr Shahana’s family has alleged that Dr Ruwais’ family demanded 150 sovereigns of gold, 15 acres of land, and a BMW car, which her family couldn’t meet, reported Mathrubhumi.

Upset by the breaking of the marriage, the young doctor ended her life, leaving behind a suicide note that read, “Everyone wants money only”.

Dr Ruwais, who was to marry Dr Shahana and is also a postgraduate doctor in the College, was taken into custody on Thursday morning, on the basis of statements of the victim’s family. A case of unnatural death was registered soon after the woman doctor’s death. Sections of abetment to suicide and Dowry Prohibition Act were added based on the statements of Dr Shahana’s family.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George directed the director of the Women and Child Development Department to carry out a probe and submit a report. Kerala state Minority Commission also initiated a probe into the case.