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Shidamma, Karnataka - Mother of Mangalamma

My daughter Mangalamma was beaten and killed by her husband and family due to dowry. I got my daughter (Mangalamma) married to Lokesh S/o. Chikkalingaiah in the same village in 2005 at Hullikere Basaveshvara Devastana. It was a simple marriage, I gave Rs.25,000/- as cash and twenty five grams of gold during the marriage. I am from a very poor background. I earn my livelihood as coolie and working in the Sugarcane industry. I am the only person running the family, my husband is also not with me. Mangalamma is my only daughter whom I have brought up with love and care. I wanted my daughter to be close to me so I got her married in the same village. Initially she was happy in her in-laws place. She was given all care but as the days passed they started torturing her. They wanted to buy a site so they were forcing her to go and get money from me. Thinking of my daughters happiness I fulfilled their demands and gave them Rs.10,000/-

As the days passed their demands kept on increasing and they started torturing my daughter very badly. She had to work as a coolie and also in the house. If she was talking with any outsider they used to take it in the wrong sense and when she used to come back home they used to treat her very badly and tortured her even more.

How ever much her in-laws used to torture her, my daughter used to bare with everything. They sold all her jewelry and made money out of that. They never even provided her proper dresses nor food. She was being harassed every single minute. After a few days they again started asking my daughter to get money to buy a site, once again. I fulfilled their damands by giving Rs.15,000/-. In spite of meeting their demands they continued to harass my daughter.

One day they had a problem with my daughter saying that she would not get up fast and cook. So they poured hot sambar on her. She could not bear the pain and torture given to her so she used to come home and her husband did not like that and he used to scold her and hit her on the road and the neighbours used to stop the fight. He used to insult her in front of everyone.

I told my neighbour that my daughter is suffering from pain as they have poured hot sambar on her. I took her to Mandya district hospital and gave her the fifteen days treatment. After the treatment I brought her to my house. Her husband came home and asked me to send her with him. I rejected and told him, “if you are treating my daughter so badly what more will you do further, I am not going to send her with you”. I am going to the panchayat. He almost came to hit me. Malesh came and protected. The Head of the village helped me and with his help I went to the police station and gave a complaint, wherein the police asked my son-in-law and his family to come, they bet him and warned him not to repeat this thing and asked me to send my daughter along with him, for which I agreed to send.

When I went to call my daughter from my relatives marriage they were not very happy to send her as they took a very long time to send. Finally they sent her sometime around night. Next day early morning her father-in-law came to ask me to send his daughter-in-law. That time I did not agree for it so again next day they came and asked to send her. My daughter was eating, she left her food and went with them. She went back to her in-laws house and they started torturing her very badly asking her why she filed a complaint against them and they will not let her inside the house.

Every day neighbours used to come and tell me the way they use to torture and behave with my daughter. I told my daughter not to stay there and to come back home. She did not come. She said that she would die in her husbands house and not return to her mothers house.

One of my relatives went to my daughters house to invite my daughter for a marriage.
She saw my daughter very badly beaten and came and told me that. Immediately I went to the Head of the village and told him that my daughter is been again harassed by them. They told that we have advised them not to torture your daughter if they want to keep her they should look after her well if not send her back home.

That night her husband and family member joint together, increased the volume of radio, closed her mouth and started hitting on the chest, her body was full of cigratte marks and iron rod marks. They strangled and hanged her with plastic wire.

Sunday morning as usual I went for my work. And a boy called Naveen came and told that factory is closed and go back home. When I was returning home I saw my daughter was dead with full of marks on her body. And I immediately went and complained about my daughter to the Madur police station and complained that my daughter she was killed. The police came and arrested the family and the post-mortem was done. Some of the family members were released by the family.

My daughter has been a victim of dowry. She has undergone a lot of pain and suffering. I completely blame her husband and his family for her death. I don’t want any other girl to undergo this kind of problem and harassment that my daughter went through. These people must be punished and I need my justice.