Husband, mother-in-law booked for harassment after woman’s suicide

One day before her death, the woman called her mother and said her husband threatened to kill her, said police

MUMBAI: Two days after a 25-year-old woman died by suicide in her residence in Versova, her husband and mother-in-law were booked for harassment and abetment to suicide on Sunday. The complainant in the case is the mother of the deceased, Shakuntala Shantaram Hagavane, 46. Hagavane, a resident of Malad, filed a complaint with the Versova police on Sunday, alleging that her eldest daughter, Chhaya Sachin Bachche, had also tried to end her life in 2024 due to abuse in her marriage.

Husband, mother-in-law booked for harassment after woman’s suicide

According to the complaint, Chhaya got married in 2022 and was happy for only the first two months of her marriage. After that, her husband Sachin and mother-in-law Savita, allegedly abused and assaulted her. When Chhaya injured herself out of frusteration last year, Sachin treated her at home and did not allow her to go to a hospital. A couple of days later, when Chhaya and Sachin argued, he and Savita kicked her out of the house,” Hagavane said in her statement. The day before she died, Chhaya called her mother and told her that the two accused were threatening to kill her. On Friday, following an argument with Sachin, Chhaya allegedly died by suicide.

She was rushed to the Cooper Hospital, but doctors declared she was dead on arrival. Once Hagavane was informed of her daughter’s passing, she decided to approach the police. The Versova police have booked Sachin Bachche and his mother Savita Bachche for abetment to suicide and threading under sections 108 (abetment to suicide), 115 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 3 (5) (common intention), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace), and 85 (cruelty by a husband or his relatives towards a woman) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.