Tamil Nadu Bride’s Suicide After ₹3.2Cr Dowry Torture

27-yr-old Ridhanya dies by suicide after dowry harassment despite giving 800g gold & ₹70L car. A wake-up call against this cruel practice.

Avinashi: In a heart-shattering episode that reveals the ever-prevalent wickedness of dowry harassment, 27-year-old Ridhanya of Avinashi, Tamil Nadu, took her life after having suffered intense mental persecution at the hands of her husband and in-laws, reports Dynamite News correspondent. Having married only months ago in April 2023 to 28-year-old Kavinkumar, her hopes for a blissful life were shattered under the burden of insatiable greed and cruelty.

The Cost of a Life

The wedding, which cost a whopping dowry of 100 sovereigns (800 grams) of gold jewelry, a Volvo car costing ₹70 lakh, and wedding ceremonies amounting to ₹2.5 crore, still fell short of her in-laws' expectations. Accounts indicate that Ridhanya was faced with incessant psychological harassment—isolated for hours, humiliated, and demeaned despite bringing into the family the handsome amount of money she did.

Her final cries for help came in the form of seven WhatsApp audio messages to her father, where she asked him to forgive her for what she did and owned up to not being able to live anymore with the abuse. Too late came her family's assurances that "things will improve." Shattered beyond repair, Ridhanya got into her car and drove to a temple nearby, consumed poison, and ended her life.

A Family That Lived Off Dowry, A System That Enabled It

Shocking as it may seem, the accused family had no genuine occupation—month-to-month rental income kept them going, and Ridhanya was to them merely a revenue source. Her husband, Kavinkumar, and his parents, Eswaramoorthy and Chitradevi, are said to have made her life miserable, thus proving that dowry is not only a demand but a legalized extortion that kills.

So long as dowry is practiced, women such as Ridhanya will never know peace. Her untimely demise should serve as a wake-up call—first, to families, and then to a society that still quantifies a woman's worth in cars and gold. Enough. Let us vow to raise daughters who prefer life over death, courage over silence, and freedom over oppression.

If you or a friend are being dowry harassed, voice your concern. Contact the Women's Helpline on 181 or the National Commission for Women (NCW) to get immediate help. Dowry is not a tradition—it's a crime. Let's put an end to it now.