On Friday, local media in Karnataka was abuzz with news of a video released by actor of the Kannada serial Agnisakshi - Rajesh Dhruva. Rajesh Dhruva's wife, Shruti, is seen sitting with a bottle of beer in her hand and conversing with him in an inebriated state.
The video was 'leaked' a day after reports emerged that Shruti Raikar had filed a dowry harassment complaint against Rajesh Dhruva and his mother Mangala Bhat. Rajesh in turn had alleged that his wife Shruti had filed the dowry harassment complaint only to malign his reputation. The actor also took the 'purity' route and stated that Shruti had been harassing his mother by eating non-vegetarian food at restaurants and also touching utensils in his house, which "maligned their purity".
"She has filed the dowry harassment complaint only to malign my reputation as a good actor. She harassed my mother. She would eat non-vegetarian food and come home and touch the utensils, which my mother did not like. We are a traditional family and she would harass us," Rajesh told the media.
Although, the video did not add any value to the existing situation or in any way proved any of Rajesh's claims, it seems like the video was released as a way malign his wife's reputation.
Speaking to TNM, Shruti said, "On January 24, I had filed a complaint against him and my mother-in-law for dowry harassment. No one knew about it then and the media reported it yesterday. He released the video a day later. Why did he do it now and not before I filed the complaint? He is doing this to target me."
On January 24, Shruti approached the Kumaraswamy Layout police station to file a complaint of dowry harassment against Rajesh and Manjula. The case was referred to the Basavanagudi Women's police station due to jurisdictional issues. However, an FIR was registered on the same day under section 498A (dowry harassment) of the IPC and section 4 (penalty for demanding dowry) of the Dowry Prohibition Act.
In her complaint, Shruti has alleged that Manjula would constantly berate her for not bringing in dowry when she got married to Rajesh in 2017.
"We had to pay for your mangal sutra. You return that and go away. We will find a suitable wife for my son, she would say. Rajesh would also beat me and he has done so on multiple occasions. He would also verbally abuse me. They also forced me to tell my parents to buy us a house," Shruti said in her complaint.
Police say that Shruti has alleged that Rajesh may have had an affair with another woman. "We are still investigating the matter. We don't have any evidence of it yet but there is suspicion. We are also gathering evidence of dowry harassment," the police added.