Divya was told by Cheran’s parents that all they wanted was a great daughter-in-law like her. Like any other woman who would’ve been swept off by those words, she and her family were in absolute agreement with the match. Elan’s family had denied dowry during the initial time of wedding preparations as well.
Elan was a well-settled doctor which excited the family further.But as the wedding date neared, things started changing dramatically. Elan Cheran’s family started making demands, and though they were a little taken aback, Divya’s family agreed to give them what they wanted, for the sake of their daughter’s future.
They gave Elan Cheran’s family 100 sovereigns of gold, Rs 15 lakh for a car, Rs 30 lakh cash and 5 kg of silver as a dowry, Divya’s brother Prekumar says. “But Elan Cheran’s mother was not happy with it,” he adds.
“The day after the wedding, she took all the gold from Divya and started fighting with her, claiming that we had given two sovereigns of gold less than we promised. She called us, and I immediately went and bought two sovereigns of gold,” Premkumar told The News Minute.
However, that not being enough for the doctor’s parents; after allegedly torturing her for dowry over the years, Elan Cheran’s family allegedly murdered their 25-year-old daughter-in-law on July 17.
“We have given them money multiple times in the last four years… Once, we gave Rs 4 lakh, once it was Rs 3 lakh, once it was Rs 50,000. In total, we have given them around Rs 15 to 20 lakh over the years,” Premkumar says.
“Ten days ago, she came back home, saying her in-laws had now demanded Rs 10 lakh. We sent her back, saying we will try to arrange the money, but we didn’t know they would kill her for this,” the distraught brother says.
All things considered, Divya’s family should perhaps have seen this coming. In the last four years, she has come back home crying at least twenty times, says Premkumar.
On July 17, Divya’s father-law and two other men, Shivakumar and Senthil, hit her and allegedly suffocated her to death using a pillow.
“Around 10.30pm that night, her mother-in-law called me and asked me to come to their house, saying that Divya is unwell. By the time, I reached their home, they had taken her to a government hospital. When I reached the hospital, I realized she was murdered by her in-laws,” Premkumar recalls.
“She had marks all over her face,” he adds.
The next day, Divya’s brother filed a complaint with the Mannargudi town police station.
“During the investigation, we found out that three men, including her father-in-law, had murdered her,” a senior police officer from Mannargudi tells TNM.
“The father-in-law told us during the interrogation that he and his wife wanted to get their son married to another woman, to get more dowry. So, they decided to kill her,” inspector of Mannargudi town police station says.
Asked about the husband’s role in the case, police say he was not involved in murder, but he has been charged with dowry harassment.
However, this wasn’t the first time the deceased or her family had opened up about the issue. In an interview with the News Minute, the concerned police officer dealing with the case says, “Earlier, Divya’s family had gone to panchayat with this issue, and both the families had reached a compromise.”
“About a year ago, her mother-in-law had fought with her saying that she did not do household chores properly, and her father-in-law hit her for that. She was scared to go back home, yet, we told her to go back,” Premkumar says.
“She had a three-year-old child, and she had to take care of him,” he adds.
“I thought, slowly, everything will be fine,” he says.
Well, we wish every family that gets into marrying their daughters realize and sense the danger much earlier. After losing a loved one, it just becomes too late.
Photo and source: The News Minute