IPS probationer accused of dowry harassment by wife, case registered in Hyderabad

The woman alleged that the officer claimed his parents would never accept her as she was a Dalit.
IPS probationer accused of dowry harassment by wife, case registered in Hyderabad
IPS probationer accused of dowry harassment by wife, case registered in Hyderabad

A 28-year-old Dalit woman working with South Central Railway, has alleged that her husband, Kokkani Venkata Maheswara Reddy, who is currently under probation as an IPS officer, is forcing to seek a divorce from her to marry another woman from his caste hoping for a huge sum as dowry.

The woman, Birudula Bhavana from the Madiga community, categorised as Scheduled Caste, has filed a police complaint alleging that Maheswara Reddy who is currently undergoing training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussorie, had threatened to kill her and her family members, if she wouldn’t divorce him.

“He made explicit threats that my siblings would be in danger if I didn’t agree with his demand. He said that he knows many MLAs from Andhra Pradesh, and also that he knows people capable of killing and leaving no trace of the murder,” alleges Bhavana.

Maheswara Reddy hails from Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh. The duo were in a relationship for 9 years, and got married in April 2018 without the knowledge of their parents and started living together in Padmarao Nagar, Secunderabad. They knew each other from college. They pursued engineering together in Osmania University, Hyderabad.

While Bhavana’s parents accepted their marriage, Maheswara Reddy did not disclose about the marriage to his parents. According to Bhavana, Maheswara Reddy said that their parents wouldn’t accept his marriage with a woman from the Dalit community, and suggested that they should get married first before revealing about their relationship.

Bhavana claims that throughout their relationship, Maheswara Reddy never introduced her to his parents. “He always made some excuse or the other and emotionally blackmailed me,"she said.

Bhavana says that after becoming eligible for IPS, Maheswara’s behaviour changed. “He said that his parents would never accept their marriage, and that he would give money for divorcing him secretly. When I didn’t agree, he harassed me physically and mentally. He even threw me out of the house, and pushed me to kill myself.”

Bhavana filed a complaint against Maheswara with the Jawahar Nagar police under Rachakonda commissionerate in September. However, following the complaint, she says that Maheswara assured that he would speak with his parents and reveal about his marriage. “He said that he would bring his parents, but he didn’t do this. After this, he took all his belongings and abandoned me. I kept visiting police station but to no avail,” she charges.

She subsequently approached National Commission for Scheduled Castes, National Commission for Women and Human Rights Commission earlier this month. She even claims to have complained to the IPS Academy in Mussoorie, where Maheswara was undergoing training. “As none of these worked, I finally took courage and posted it on social media.”

Meanwhile, the Jawahar Nagar police have registered a case against Maheswara under 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on Saturday, after she took to social media.  

Maheswara Reddy did not respond to repeated calls.

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