A 26-year-old doctor has killed herself in India after her fiance refused to wed her when her widowed mother said they could not afford to pay his family’s massive dowry demand.
The heartbroken bride-to-be, named only as Dr Shahana in local media, was told the wedding was off unless her family handed over gold, land and a top-of-the-range BMW.
Police who found her dead in her flat in Thiruvananthapuram, in the Indian state of Kerala, reportedly found a suicide note saying: “Everyone just wants money.”
Her fiance, named as Dr EA Ruwais, and his family had reportedly insisted on being paid 150 gold sovereigns, 15 acres of land, and a top-of-the-range BMW.
State Health Minister Veena George has reportedly ordered an investigation into Dr Shahana’s death.
The victim, whose father died two years ago, had been studying a postgraduate course in surgery at the Government Medical College in Thiruvananthapuram.
The police have arrested Dr Shahana’s fiance for a suspected breach of India’s widely ignored dowry prevention laws.
He is also being investigated for failing to help prevent a suicide.
The investigation is ongoing.
