Vismaya dowry death case: Kerala Court convicts accused Kiran Kumar for driving wife to suicide

Mangalore Today News Network / News18

Kollam, May 23, 2022: The additional sessions court in Kerala’s Kollam on Monday held S Kiran Kumar guilty for the dowry death of his wife Kiran Kumar Vismaya. Vismaya, an Ayurveda medical student was found dead in her husband’s house under mysterious circumstances after she had complained of dowry harassment.

 

The court, which had reserved the judgement in the case for Monday, held the husband guilty under the charges of 304(b), 498(A), 306 IPC and 3,4 of Dowry Prohibition Act.

The special public prosecutor (SPP) had said that during the trial 42 witnesses, 102 documents and several call records were examined in the court. He also said that the prosecution contended that based on evidence submitted before the court, the offences charged against the accused husband were made out.

Kerala Police in its 500-page charge sheet had said that Vismaya committed suicide due to dowry harassment. It had charged the victim’s husband, S Kiran Kumar, under Sections 304B, 498A, 306, 323 and 506, for the offences of dowry death, dowry harassment, abetment to suicide, voluntarily causing hurt, and criminal intimidation, respectively, under the IPC.

Vismaya, 22, was found dead in the house of her husband at Sasthamkotta in Kollam district on June 21, 2021. Kumar, who was an assistant motor vehicle inspector, was arrested and the state government later dismissed him from service.

A day before the incident, Vismaya had sent WhatsApp messages to her relatives over the alleged harassment by Kumar over dowry, as well as photos of wounds and marks of beatings on her body. Her father had told a TV channel that 100 sovereigns of gold (one sovereign is equal to 8 grams gold) and over one acre land, besides a car worth Rs 10 lakh was given as dowry to Kumar during the wedding in 2020.

But Kumar did not like the car and wanted Rs 10 lakh in cash. As he was told it was not possible, he used to torture her, the father had said.