Telangana man beats wife to death amid dowry harassment, incident caught on CCTV

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In an appalling incident, a resident of Tandur in Telangana’s Vikarabad district beat his wife to death right outside their house, after weeks of harassing her for dowry. The couple, Paramesh (28) and Anusha (22), had been married for about eight months. Police said that Anusha started facing domestic violence and dowry harassment within two or three months after marrying Paramesh.

On December 15, Paramesh’s mother Lalamma chided Anusha for cooking what she felt was an excessive amount of rice, according to Tandur Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Narsingh Yadaiah. The incident escalated with both Paramesh and Lalamma hitting and injuring Anusha. Paramesh’s father Mogilaiah then dropped Anusha at her maternal home nearby.

Three days later, on December 18, when Anusha’s family was taking her to the hospital, Paramesh stopped them and insisted that he would take her instead. Anusha’s mother told the media that she and her daughter resisted, but Paramesh took Anusha away by force. 

“He took her to two hospitals, and both told him that they would have to treat it as a medico-legal case and involve the police. He then took her home and asked her to open the door. When she refused, they had an argument, and she flung the keys away. He then slapped her, kicked her, and then grabbed a stick and hit her on the head six times until she collapsed,” the DySP said. 

Disturbing CCTV footage of the incident showed Anusha trying to walk away immediately after reaching Paramesh’s house on his bike. Paramesh was seen grabbing her and pushing her to sit on the porch. He then got increasingly aggressive, shoving her head against the door, slapping and kicking her, and finally hitting her with a stick. A woman passing by tried to stop Paramesh but he continued hitting Anusha till she collapsed. She was taken to a hospital but did not survive the assault. 

Paramesh and Anusha had been in a relationship for a while, and got married in March with their families’ involvement. Anusha’s family even gave a dowry of Rs 1.11 lakh and a few other objects, according to the DySP. 

However, within a couple of months, Paramesh and his family started harassing her for more dowry, the police said. “Paramesh’s family has about 10 acres of land and they are relatively well off. His mother kept saying they could’ve got more dowry if he had married someone else.” the DySP said. 

Anusha’s mother told the media that when her daughter was initially injured on December 15, hospital authorities advised them to give a police complaint but she refused, thinking it would cause further trouble in the marriage. 

Paramesh and his parents have been arrested by the Vikarabad police. Paramesh has been charged with murder, dowry death, and husband subjecting a woman to cruelty.