A court in Kerala on Tuesday sentenced the husband of a medical student who died by suicide in 2021 to 10 years’ imprisonment, ANI reported.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 12.55 lakh on the man, S Kiran Kumar, according to PTI. It directed him to pay Rs 2 lakh from the fine amount to the parents of the student.
On Monday, Additional District and Sessions Judge Sujith KN held Kumar guilty of abetting the suicide of his wife, 22-year-old Vismaya V Nair. The court convicted him under Sections 306 (abetment to suicide), 498-A (any wilful conduct which is of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide) and 304-B (dowry death) of the Indian Penal Code.
The court sentenced Kumar to ten years’ imprisonment for dowry death along with six years and two years’ jail term on charges of abetment to suicide and cruelty. However, the court directed that the latter two sentences will run concurrently with the one for dowry death.
Nair, a final-year Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery student, was found hanging in her in-laws’ home in Sasthamnada near Sasthamkotta in the state’s Kollam district on June 21. Kumar had surrendered to the police the same night.
The 22-year-old’s death had led to widespread outrage in the state.
Her family alleged that she had been murdered, adding that she had been assaulted by Kumar for dowry on several occasions. Trivikraman Nair, her father, had alleged that his daughter had been tortured by Kumar.
“At the time of marriage, I had given 100 sovereigns of gold, 1.20 acres of land and a new car,” he had told reporters. “However, he was torturing my daughter, demanding more money. As the car, which was gifted to the couple, was bought after availing a loan, I could not meet his demand for more money.”
Two days before her death, Vismaya Nair had sent messages to her cousin detailing the domestic violence committed by her husband. Nair wrote that she had not told anyone else about the assault. She also shared photos with her cousin showing injuries on her face, shoulder and hands.
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