India: three sisters commit suicide with two children over dowry

JAIPUR, India: A tragic suicide case shocked the Indian state of Rajasthan as three sisters, all married into the same family, died by suicide along with two children. One of the children was a 4-year-old boy and the other was a 27-day old infant. Worse, two of the women were pregnant at the time of death.

The women Kalu Meena (25-years-old), Mamta (23) and Kamlesh (20) were married to three brothers from the same family in Chapiya village of Dudu Jaipur district, foreign media reported. Their family members have alleged that their in-laws would regularly harass them for dowry and even beat them up.

“My sisters were regularly beaten and harassed for dowry. When they went missing on May 25, we ran from pillar to post to find them. We registered FIRs at the local police station, with the women's helpline, and also with the national commission for women but received very little help," their cousin Hemraj Meena said.

Though the women did not leave a suicide note, their family members have shared a WhatsApp status of the youngest sister Kamlesh where she wrote in Hindi, "we are leaving now, stay happy, the reason for our death is our in-laws, it's better to die once and for all than die every day. So, we have decided to die together. We hope, the three of us will be together in the next life. We don't want to die but our in-laws harass us. Don't blame our parents for our death".

The police recovered the bodies of all three victims and the two children from a well in the Dudu village Saturday morning, four days after the women went missing. Police sources have told an Indian media outlet that a case has been registered against the husbands and in-laws of the victims for offences, including cruelty. A case of dowry death will now be added to the original FIR, they said. The police are interrogating the three husbands, the mother in law, and other family members in connection with the deaths.

Women's activists in Rajasthan have demanded a high-level inquiry into the case, saying Rajasthan should hang its head in shame over such a case where clearly women's lives don't matter. They have also demanded action against the police who took four days to recover the bodies of the women.