12 days after singer’s suicide, cops nab her husband, in-laws

www.mangaloretoday.com

Bengaluru, March 1, 2020: Twelve days after an up-and-coming singer committed suicide over alleged dowry harassment, police arrested her husband, his aunt and sister in Pandavapura, 126 km west of Bengaluru, on Saturday.

Sushmitha H S alias Sushmitha Raje’s husband Sharath Kumar, his aunt Vydehi and sister Geeta were nabbed from a relative’s house around 10.45 am, a police officer said. Police had to take the help of one of Kumar’s relatives in tracing the three individuals because they had switched off their phones soon after Sushmitha named them in a suicide note on February 17.

The 26-year-old singer, who sang for films such as Sree Samanya and Halu Tuppa, had married Kumar in July 2018. But her marital life became torturous after her husband started harassing her for dowry at the behest of his aunt and sister. The trio often beat her up and sent her out of the house.

While Sushmitha gave him all her earnings, Kumar demanded more so as to repay a home loan that he had taken to buy a Rs 50-lakh apartment, the officer said.

She allegedly hanged herself in her mother’s house in Nagarabhavi and sent her a suicide note by WhatsApp.

“Sushmitha was an innocent woman and couldn’t bear the harassment. She should have separated from him legally, but instead chose to end her life.

“Sharath had even stopped having physical contact with her after she didn’t meet his dowry demand,” the officer explained.

The officer said Kumar and the two women would be produced in a court but the police wouldn’t seek their custodial interrogation. “It’s an open-and-shut case. Sushmitha’s death note is the vital evidence,” the officer said.