Husband, in-laws booked for abetment of suicide of woman

Neelam Jadhav (24), who lost her father in 2015, was looked after by her uncles Vijay Bhosale and Navnath Bhosale. In May 2021, the uncles got her married to Vaibhav Shantaram Jadhav, a tutor in a private coaching class

KOPARKHAIRANE: Days after a 24-year-old married woman hanged herself, the Koparkhairane police have booked her husband and in-laws for abetment to suicide. They took the step after the woman’s cousin found WhatsApp chats detailing the abuse she had suffered in her marital home.

On the night of May 25, Neelam messaged her cousin Akshay Bhosale, asking him to take care of himself and the family, and advised him to stop drinking. Bhosale saw the message the next morning and tried calling up Neelam, but she did not answer the phone. After getting a call from Neelam’s husband that she was not opening the bedroom door, Bhosale went to her house. Neelam’s husband and he jointly opened the door only to find Neelam hanging from the ceiling fan. (Image for representation)

Neelam Jadhav (24), who lost her father in 2015, was looked after by her uncles Vijay Bhosale and Navnath Bhosale. In May 2021, the uncles got her married to Vaibhav Shantaram Jadhav, a tutor in a private coaching class.

After the wedding, the Jadhavs shifted to Koparkhairane, where Neelam’s ordeal began. She was taunted for taking up a job and constantly beaten by her husband. In May this year, her in-laws summoned her uncles at night.

“They wanted her to quit her job and look after the house,” said an officer from Koparkhairane police station. “The uncles pacified the family, saying that Neelam would cook dinner after she returned from work while the mother-in-law should cook lunch. They agreed to this and the uncles left.”

“A few days after her death, Bhosale read the WhatsApp messages Neelam had sent to her friend, and discovered that she was being abused daily for the most trivial reasons,” said the officer. “Her husband used to beat her for reasons like water in the soap case, vegetables blocking the kitchen sink, remnants of soap on a utensil and her cooking.”

Bhosale registered a police complaint against Neelam’s husband Vaibhav Jadhav, mother-in-law Suvarna Jadhav and sister-in-law Varsha Jadhav for subjecting her to cruelty and for abetment of suicide. Vaibhav was arrested by the Koparkhairane police in the first week of June.