Sexual abuse by father-in-law, dowry harassment, woman sets herself ablaze

CHENNAI: A woman, who set herself on fire after she was sexually harassed by her father-in-law, died while undergoing treatment. The dead is Ranjitha (32) of Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu. In the video recorded after attempting suicide, she said that she was harassed by her husband's family for dowry from the day of her marriage. Ranjitha, who suffered more than 70 percent burns, was undergoing treatment at the Rajaji Government Hospital in Madurai.

The woman has levelled serious allegations against her husband's family and father-in-law in the video. 'My father-in-law hugged me and tried to harass me, I couldn't take it, that’s why I immolated myself,’ the woman said in the video. Meantime, the woman's younger son, a seventh-class student, released another video saying that his mother had told him about the harassment by his grandfather.

Her family also came forward against her husband's family. ‘It has been 13 years of harassment. They kept demanding land and more gold as dowry. Her father-in-law sexually abused her. Her husband drinks and constantly beats her and asked her to bear everything silently. The in-laws threatened Ranjitha, saying that if she visits us and threatened, they wouldn’t take her back if she did,’ her sister Alakasundari told media. The police said that a detailed investigation into the incident is underway.