Days after Ramsi's death, another girl commits suicide after boy leaves her

Kayamkulam: Days after a 24-year-old girl named Ramsi died by suicide at Kottiyam in Kollam when her boyfriend of a long time ditched her after promising marriage, a similar incident has been reported in Arattupuzha in Kayamkulam.

The family of a 21-year-old woman has alleged that she ended her own life after the man who was with her for seven years and had promised to marry her did not keep his word saying the dowry was not sufficient.

The police have registered a case and are investigating.

Archana (21), the daughter of Murikkinveettil Viswanathan in Perumpally and a BSc Nursing final-year student, died by suicide when the man’s marriage with another woman was being fixed at his home. Before taking the extreme step, she sent him a message on WhatsApp saying she was ending her life.

The incident, which took place on Friday, came to light after the last rites of the woman were performed on Sunday. Audio messages of the girl talking to a friend about her love have also come out.

Archana was in school when she fell in love with the young man who lived near the school. When she passed Plus Two, the young man went to her house with a marriage proposal. But her father sent him back saying he did not want to marry her off as yet as he wanted her to continue her studies. The two continued their affair while she was studying for BSc Nursing.

Meanwhile, the young man went abroad and became well off financially. He then started avoiding the girl, the family alleged.

When the girl asked him about marriage, he wanted to know how much dowry he would get. Her father told him he would give 30 sovereigns of gold.

According to relatives, the young man withdrew from the marriage as the girl’s father, who was a labourer, could not afford to spend big. They say the insistence of the boy’s parents for more dowry was the reason for him to back off from the marriage.

His parents said he had given 101 sovereigns of gold and a car as a dowry for his sister's marriage. They said they wanted the same dowry for their son or else they would look for another alliance for him. This disheartened the girl.

He decided to marry another girl, and Archana chose to commit suicide on the day when his marriage was being fixed on Friday.

The news of the suicide has come out on Monday, the day the engagement ceremony of the boy was to take place.

On Friday, the girl sent a WhatsApp message to the young man saying she was going to die. She deleted the message after she was certain that he had read it. Then she ate a poisonous fruit called othalam (Cerbera odollam).

Meanwhile, the man informed one of his friends about the incident. When they reached the spot, they found the girl unconscious. Although she was taken to the Alappuzha Medical College Hospital, she could not be saved.

The man has been absconding since the incident.

There is a growing demand for his arrest for cheating the girl after promising marriage.