Thiruvananthapuram: With Kerala reeling from the news that a seven-year-old boy brutally assaulted by his mother’s live-in partner is fighting for his life in hospital, reports have emerged saying a woman was allegedly starved to death by her in-laws. Police said Thushara, a resident of Karunagappally, was locked up and forced to consume only soaked rice and sugar syrup for days before she died at a government hospital in Kollam on March 21.
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The woman reportedly weighed a mere 20kg when she died on March 21. Thushara's husband Chandulal and his mother Geetha Lal were arrested and remanded Friday, police said. "She looked like a bag of a skeleton with hardly any flesh on her body. She weighed just 20 kg. A detailed inquiry has thrown light to the cruelty. Her relatives alleged that the torture was to get more dowries," a police official said. “We had no idea that she was in this condition,” Thushara’s brother Tushant said. “They did not like us or any relatives visiting them and they were hostile. They did not even tell us or allow us to meet Thushara when she was pregnant.”
Police said the woman's husband used to do odd jobs. The couple married in 2013. At the time of marriage, the woman's family had given her in-laws some gold ornaments and money. They had promised to give more. The fact that her body weight was only 20kg at the time of death led to suspicion and investigation by police. A large number of people took to social media to express shock at the news from Oyur, Kollam.
