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Indian woman from Kerala found dead in UAE on birthday, family alleges domestic violence by husband
Athulya’s husband Satheesh has denied the allegations, claiming he had no role in Athulya’s death. He said he did not believe she would die by suicide.
Athulya Sekhar, a woman from Kerala, was found dead in her Sharjah apartment in the UAE early on Saturday, leading the Kerala Police to register a murder case against her husband.
Gulf News reported, citing her family, that Athulya’s death coincided with her 30th birthday and the first day of a new job.
According to the complaint filed by the woman's mother, her husband, Satheesh strangled her, kicked her stomach, and hit her head with a plate between July 18 and 19, leading to her death, India Today reported.
Athulya Sekhar was found dead in her flat in Rolla area, according to her sister and brother-in-law living in Sharjah.
The death of Athulya, the mother of a 10-year-old girl, has sent fresh shockwaves through the Indian community in the UAE, Gulf News reported.
The incident comes weeks after the death of another Malayali woman, 32, and her 16-month-old daughter in Sharjah, in what the police said was a murder-suicide. The forensic report had confirmed that the woman had died by hanging herself after suffocating the child to death on July 8. The incident had reportedly stemmed from marital conflicts.
Dowry harassment allegation against husband
Athulya's family alleged that she was repeatedly harassed for not bringing enough dowry at the time of their marriage in 2014, despite having given a bike and 43 sovereigns of gold, India Today reported.
A case has been registered against Satheesh under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. The woman’s family has alleged that she endured years of mental and physical abuse due to persistent dowry demands.
Husband denies allegation
Speaking to the media from the UAE, Satheesh has denied the allegations, claiming he had no role in Athulya’s death. He said he did not believe she would die by suicide and that he, too, was seeking answers.
Her father, however, maintained that the circumstances around her death were suspicious. “I don’t believe that my daughter will die by suicide. She shares a very intimate relationship with her daughter. Her death is mysterious. We have to find out what exactly happened to her. He is an alcoholic. He always gets violent. She bore all the torture for her. Earlier also, such issues had happened and a case was filed with the police. We want to know what exactly happened to her,” he said.
Her family also released videos showing Athulya with visible injury marks and her husband appearing to lift a plastic stool to hit her.
“We will be visiting the Sharjah Police for completing the formalities of filing the case tomorrow. We are also approaching the Indian Consulate in Dubai,” Gulf News quotes her brother-in-law as saying on Sunday.
