Vismaya case: Kerala court convicts husband for dowry death, abetting suicide

A Kerala court on Monday convicted the husband of Vismaya an Ayurveda medical student who hanged herself in her marital home in June last year for dowry death and abetting her suicideAdditional District and Sessions Judge1 Sujith K N also convicted the husband for the offence of dowry related harassment under the IPC and various provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act Special Public Prosecutor SPP G Mohanraj told reporters outside the courtThe SPP said that the court is expected to pronounce the sentence on Tuesday after hearing arguments on behalf of the prosecution and the convictHe said that the prosecution would be seeking the maximum possible punishment for the convict S Kiran KumarThis is a verdict against a social evil and not just against one person the SPP saidThe offence of dowry death under section 304B of IPC carries a minimum sentence of seven years and a maximum of life imprisonmentThe offences of dowry harassment under Section 498A of IPC and abetment to suicide under Section 306 of IPC carry a maximum punishment of three years and 10 years jail term respectivelyVismayas father spoke to reporters outside the court and said that his daughter has got justiceHe said he did not have words to express his gratitude for the efforts of the prosecution and the investigating teamPrior to leaving for the court he had told reporters at his residence that the government appointed a very good investigating team to probe the case and a very good prosecutorJust before the verdict was delivered state Transport Minister Antony Raju told reporters that irrespective of the courts decision in the criminal case there will be no change in the state governments decision to dismiss Kumar from serviceKumar who was an assistant motor vehicle inspector was out on bail which was granted to him by the Supreme CourtHowever with his conviction the bail granted to him stands rescinded and police took him into custody from the courtHe was taken to the district jail and will arrive in court on Tuesday from thereWhile being taken away by the police from the court Kumar did not answer the repeated queries by reporters on what he had to say regarding the verdictVismayas brother and mother too welcomed the verdictThe tearyeyed mother who was watching the news from home told reporters that her daughter has got justiceShe also expressed hope that Kumar would get the maximum possible punishmentVismayas brother too spoke on similar linesTalking to a news channel from his workplace he said that while it would not bring back his sister back the verdict would hopefully act as a deterrent and may help countless others like his sister avoid a fate like that of VismayaIG Harshitha Attaluri who was overseeing the probe in the case also welcomed the verdict and told reporters that it would act as a deterrent against dowry practices in societyShe said that dowry was the reason behind the harassment and cruelty suffered by the victim which led her to take the extreme stepThe court had on May 17 reserved its verdict in the caseKerala Police in its over 500page charge sheet had said that Vismaya committed suicide due to dowry harassmentVismaya 22 was found dead in the house of her husband at Sasthamkotta in Kollam district on June 21 2021A 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 bodyHer father had said 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 2020But 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 saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever