Kerala Court Sends Husband and Mother-in-Law to Jail for Life for Starving Woman to Death Over Dowry

The Kollam Additional Sessions Court sentenced Chanthulal (36) and his mother, Geetha Lal (62), to life imprisonment for the 2019 dowry-related murder of Thushara, Chanthulal’s wife. The two were convicted under IPC Sections 302, 304B, and 344, and fined ₹1 lakh each.

Thushara, married in 2013, was subjected to abuse after her in-laws demanded 20 sovereigns of gold & ₹2 lakh dowry. She was starved, denied contact with family, and confined with her two children.

On March 21, 2019, she was brought dead to a hospital, weighing only 21 kg. The post-mortem revealed no food in her stomach, confirming death by starvation.

The court relied on medical and witness evidence to link her death to sustained cruelty. (State of Kerala v. Chanthulal & ors.)