The death of a woman in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal has unleashed an ugly blame game between her in-laws and her parents, with the former suggesting that the deceased was schizophrenic and a drug addict while the latter termed the allegations as defamation of a person who is not there to defend himself.
The woman in her 30s, originally from Noida in Uttar Pradesh, allegedly died by suicide last week at her Bhopal residence in Bagh-Mughalia Extension. But her family claimed foul play, pointing to signs of injury on her body. They claimed that she said she was assaulted by her husband.
Since her death, several developments such as her husband’s disappearance, CCTV footage allegedly from moments before her death and alleged WhatsApp chats where she expressed her frustration over the situation in her matrimonial home have raised questions about the events that led to the alleged suicide.
The ugly blame game
The deceased’s mother-in-law, a retired judge, spoke to the media on Monday and Tuesday, claiming that she had noticed within five months of marriage that the woman had liberal views. She claimed that after her pregnancy was confirmed on the 17th of this month, the woman’s behavior changed radically as she refused to keep the child. According to her, the woman was found self-harming that evening.
“Her parents never came to see her for the past five months. They were making money because of her looks and now they are not allowing her cremation. I have faith in the investigating agencies and in the truth,” her mother-in-law and retired judge said on Monday.
“Within five months, I realized that she held quite liberal views… on the 17th [May]The moment she received confirmation of her pregnancy, her entire demeanor changed; She declared that she did not want to keep this child… That very evening, when I came home from the office, I saw that she was in a terrible state; She was physically beating herself up. She kept screaming: “I can’t keep living like this!”… I told her: “If you really want to leave, we can arrange your ticket for tomorrow so you can leave with dignity”… We don’t know where she went at night… She also asked her mother. She also said that she does not know about this matter.. She is acting entirely on her whims, taking completely reckless and reckless steps…”, her mother-in-law claimed while speaking to the media on Tuesday.
She said that after this incident, the woman’s mother came to Bhopal on May 23. “She did not even stay; she simply said that she would return on the 30th when her husband arrived… On the 30th, she came back and again insisted on going to the hospital to undergo a medical termination of pregnancy…,” she alleged.
Her mother-in-law also defended her son, saying that men often find it difficult to express their grief through tears, and that he had been struggling with his wife’s behavioral problems from the beginning. She claimed there were no major fights, but the medical termination of the pregnancy (MTP) caused emotional distress. She confirmed that her son would eventually appear and assume his legal defense, stressing that the case brought against them deserves to be rejected.
His mother-in-law had also spoken out on Monday about the alleged pregnancy termination procedure, saying his daughter-in-law wanted it reversed immediately after taking the first cycle. “When the first cycle of the Medium Term Plan started [medical termination of pregnancy]She said she wanted the opposite, which I knew wasn’t possible… She didn’t let us feel that fleeting moment of joy. It’s really heartbreaking. Young girls often take this drastic step… On May 7th, she must have taken the pill; She completed the entire MTP procedure, and we had to support her… She also called her mother, as she was needed there. For five months, her parents never visited her… We deliberately did not contact her husband; He has a very strange personality. “He has been working for almost twenty years in the pharmaceutical industry – specifically in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and he was probably the source of many things… I think they were making money from it all… but the matter is subject to the judiciary,” his mother-in-law said, according to a video published by news agency ANI of her remarks.
Shocking claims about mental health and drug addiction
Expanding her claims regarding the deceased woman’s mental health, the retired judge described the death as a terrible loss, but claimed that the woman was undergoing psychiatric treatment and taking medication for schizophrenia, and was displaying physical symptoms such as hand tremors.
Her mother-in-law said on Monday: “It is a huge loss for us because, whatever the circumstances, she was part of our family… She also went for psychological counseling, and was prescribed medications that are given to a patient with schizophrenia… She would have remained stable for a day or so, but again, there was a slight change in her condition. We noticed some physical symptoms, a slight tremor in her hands, which is typical of withdrawal symptoms… She ruined everything…” her mother-in-law said on Monday.
She further claimed that the woman suffered from drug withdrawal after moving to Bhopal, alleging that she admitted to using large amounts of marijuana to terminate her pregnancy.
“After coming here, she ran out of drugs… She admitted to consuming large amounts of marijuana when she wanted to reverse her pregnancy… A counseling session was held during that period… Although I can’t make any very technical statement about it because she was on schizophrenia medications…”
The family of the deceased responds
In response, the deceased’s father strongly rejected the allegations, accusing his daughter’s mother-in-law of fabricating stories to evade accountability. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, he stressed that his daughter died under suspicious circumstances inside the matrimonial home and criticized the former judicial officer for publicly defaming a deceased career-oriented woman.
“The perpetrator is simply trying to find ways to save himself. That’s why she makes different kinds of allegations. Because the girl is now dead, she thinks she can freely accuse and blame her. The girl died in their house. She was murdered in their house. They must answer for that. As for these allegations, they must bring them to court. Defaming the dead girl publicly is in itself a grave wrong. The fact that someone holding such a high judicial position does that is in itself extremely shameful. The girl you brought to your home, She was dynamic, career-oriented, educated, and now you make such accusations against her, and today they call her schizophrenic, and I say, who could be more schizophrenic than you, that you took such a good daughter and killed her in your own home?
The mother of the deceased also denied the existence of any financial motives, explaining that there were no financial dependencies between her and her daughter. She stated that they only wanted her to focus on her career, adding that her in-laws were trying to restrict her, and expressed her deep sadness at the loss of her daughter.
“We were never short of money. We never took money from her, and my daughter never gave us any money. We always told her to focus on building a good career. We had no money problems, and my daughter knew that very well. The only problem was that they were trying to stop her. What her mother-in-law said, they kept her for the money, so what more do they want from us? She can take all the money from us if she wants, and take what she wants, but give me my daughter back the way we gave her.” “It’s theirs.”
Local police are currently investigating the matter, examining recovered CCTV footage, WhatsApp chats and the autopsy report to ascertain the exact sequence of events that led to the tragedy.
