A horrifying case of alleged domestic violence has surfaced from Attibele, around 28 km from Bengaluru, after a woman battling suspected mercury poisoning for nine months died earlier this week. The victim, Vidya, had managed to give police a comprehensive account of the abuse she faced before her health deteriorated further.
In her statement from her hospital bed, Vidya described prolonged harassment at the hands of her husband and father-in-law. She said her husband regularly dismissed her as “mad,” confined her to their home, obstructed her from meeting relatives and subjected her to relentless verbal cruelty, according to an NDTV report. The couple shared a four-year-old child.
Victim’s Health Declines After Suspected Injection
Vidya, who lived in Tilaknagar and was the mother of a young boy, provided her testimony to Attibele police at Victoria Hospital on Sunday. By early Monday, she had succumbed to her condition. Police said an autopsy has been completed, though the precise cause of death will be known only after forensic examinations.
She alleged that on the night of February 26, she was injected with an unknown substance. In her recorded video statement, Vidya said she was surprised by her husband Basavaraju’s sudden affection that night, but soon fell unconscious.
When she regained consciousness on the evening of February 27, she realised something had been injected into her right thigh. Unable to withstand the pain, she first sought treatment at Attibele government hospital on March 7. She was later moved to Oxford Hospital, where tests allegedly revealed the presence of mercury in her body. After a prolonged stay, she was shifted to Victoria Hospital, where doctors reportedly told her the mercury had spread, affecting multiple organs and damaging her kidneys. She underwent regular dialysis as her condition worsened.
Case Upgraded To Dowry Death Amid Ongoing Investigation
Police initially filed a case of attempted murder on November 23 under Section 109 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Bengaluru Rural SP CK Baba later confirmed that the charges had been upgraded to dowry death, citing the harassment Vidya had outlined.
In her final statement, she alleged that “with the intention of killing her, they had injected mercury into her right thigh”, as per Times of India.
