‘Either I’ll Die or They’ll Kill Me’: Pregnant Kerala Woman Dies By Suicide, Fed Up With Domestic Abuse
Faseela had reportedly sent a few WhatsApp messages to her mother, describing the harassment and abuse she was subjected to.
A 23-year-old pregnant woman allegedly died by suicide at her husband’s home in Thrissur on Tuesday, following continuous domestic abuse by her husband and mother-in-law, according to a disturbing message she sent to her mother.
Faseela, wife of Naufal, a resident of Vellangular, was found hanging at her husband’s residence on July 29. The next day, her husband Naufal and his mother Ramla were taken into custody and later remanded to judicial custody based on the family’s statement, which claimed that the suicide was a result of ongoing domestic violence.
Reports suggest Faseela had sent several WhatsApp messages to her mother, narrating the torment she was enduring.
Describing her suffering, Faseela informed her mother that she was pregnant for the second time, and that her husband had repeatedly kicked her in the stomach and fractured her arm. She also alleged that her mother-in-law subjected her to abuse. In one of her final messages, Faseela wrote that she was dying or “they will kill me”.
Speaking to the media, one of her relatives said that Faseela had previously informed her family about the abuse, but was advised to “adjust”, as such matters were considered “common in most households”.
A case was registered under sections relating to abetment to suicide and other relevant charges. After the postmortem at the Government Medical College in Thrissur, her body was handed over to her family. Faseela is survived by a son.
Her death is the latest in a series of distressing incidents involving Malayali women trapped in abusive marriages and driven to end their lives. Earlier in July, 29-year-old Athulya Satheesh, a native of Kollam who was living in Sharjah, died by suicide after allegedly suffering years of physical assault from her husband. Days before her death, she had sent a voice message to her sister expressing her desperation. Her husband later reportedly confessed to beating her and justified it by saying he did it “out of love”.
Likewise, on July 8, Vipanchika Mani (33), also from Kollam, allegedly killed her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Vybhavi, and then took her own life in their flat in Al Nahda, Sharjah. In a suicide note posted on her Facebook account, Mani said she had endured both physical and emotional abuse. “I suffered in silence. They said our wedding wasn’t grand, the dowry was inadequate, and there was no car. They called me homeless, penniless, and accused me of begging for money. Despite being financially well-off, they harassed me for my salary,” she wrote.
In the note, Mani, who had been married to Valiyaveettil for around four-and-a-half years, also alleged that she was “beaten like a dog” and forced into sexual acts by her husband inspired by pornographic content. She claimed she was denied food and thrown out of the house when she was seven months pregnant.
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