faither
09-17-2002, 11:58 AM
A very sad story...
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:38 p.m. ET
BHOPAL, India (AP) -- A 30-year-old woman in central India killed herself and her three small daughters by jumping into a well to escape harassment from her in-laws for failing to provide a fan and television promised as dowry, police said Tuesday.
Mamta Mali was physically assaulted by her mother-in-law before she killed herself and her daughters, ages 1 through 5, on Monday, said Anil Maheshwari, a police officer in Madhya Pradesh state.
The fan and television were promised by Mali's parents as dowry to her husband's family at the time of their wedding six years ago, he said.
``The victim was tortured mentally and sometimes even assaulted physically,'' Maheshwari said. ``Yesterday, she was attacked by her mother-in-law. When the eldest daughter returned from school, Mamta took all the three children and was seen crying profusely.''
Police recovered the bodies from the well in Dhaman village, 100 miles south of Bhopal, and were collecting evidence to charge Mali's husband and mother-in-law with dowry deaths and abetting suicide, Maheshwari said.
If convicted, the two could both be imprisoned for seven years.
Indian law prohibits giving or receiving dowry, but the social custom persists. Each year, thousands of young Indian women are doused with gasoline and burned to death because the groom or his family felt the dowry was inadequate.
A dowry can range from furniture, land, cash, and consumer goods to paying the husband's college fees or migration costs. In India, nearly 25,000 women report being victims of dowry-related violence every year.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:38 p.m. ET
BHOPAL, India (AP) -- A 30-year-old woman in central India killed herself and her three small daughters by jumping into a well to escape harassment from her in-laws for failing to provide a fan and television promised as dowry, police said Tuesday.
Mamta Mali was physically assaulted by her mother-in-law before she killed herself and her daughters, ages 1 through 5, on Monday, said Anil Maheshwari, a police officer in Madhya Pradesh state.
The fan and television were promised by Mali's parents as dowry to her husband's family at the time of their wedding six years ago, he said.
``The victim was tortured mentally and sometimes even assaulted physically,'' Maheshwari said. ``Yesterday, she was attacked by her mother-in-law. When the eldest daughter returned from school, Mamta took all the three children and was seen crying profusely.''
Police recovered the bodies from the well in Dhaman village, 100 miles south of Bhopal, and were collecting evidence to charge Mali's husband and mother-in-law with dowry deaths and abetting suicide, Maheshwari said.
If convicted, the two could both be imprisoned for seven years.
Indian law prohibits giving or receiving dowry, but the social custom persists. Each year, thousands of young Indian women are doused with gasoline and burned to death because the groom or his family felt the dowry was inadequate.
A dowry can range from furniture, land, cash, and consumer goods to paying the husband's college fees or migration costs. In India, nearly 25,000 women report being victims of dowry-related violence every year.