Fat-shamed by her in-laws, woman kill self

By Gunwanti Paraste

Despite realizing she was overweight before the marriage ceremony, husband’s circle of relatives picked on her again and again, dumped her at her folks’, sought divorce

With her obesity being held towards her by means of her in-laws, making the four years she spent in her marital home a living hell, a 32-year-old resident of Pimpri-Chinchwad was pushed to committing suicide. A 12 months ago, she was dumped at her folks’ home and in spite of all her efforts, Priyanka Pethkar could not bring her husband and his circle of relatives to accept her as she was — on May 25, she hanged herself.

Pursuant to her dying, Priyanka’s brother Pushkarraj Prabhune has filed a complaint of abetment of suicide towards her husband Kedar Pethkar (32), his father Shrikant Pethkar (60) and mother Surekha Vishwanath Pethkar (55), in addition to Kedar’s brother-in-law (sister’s husband) Jagdish Madiwala (40).

Priyanka was married to Kedar, a farmer from Phaltan in Satara, in 2015. “She weighed 110 kg even before the wedding. Yet, her weight was a subject after the marriage and Kedar was pressuring her for a divorce,” Pushkarraj informed Mirror. “There had been no complaints first of all. However, soon they stored taunting that she could not do any paintings due to her weight. When she sought to have a look on the farms owned by means of her husband, he retorted that they may be able to be seen best after she shed some weight. They’d select on her even though she made some rapid noodles for herself,” he added.

Next, they blamed her not getting pregnant after two years of marriage on her obesity, insisting that she was not able to conceive due to her physical condition. They even resorted to ravenous her with smaller foods, sometimes only a unmarried meal a day. “The physical torture and psychological harassment fastened on her was unrelenting. Then, a 12 months ago, they brought her to her maternal home — in Bhosari — and just left her there. The poor lady began exercising and weight-reduction plan, but it was futile. The ultimate straw was her husband not easy a divorce and breaking all conversation together with her. She was utterly devastated and not able to take the abuse and rejection anymore,” the bereaved brother pointed out.

Senior police inspector on the Bhosari police station, Shankar Avatade, recounted the explanations for Priyanka’s suicide at her folks’ place and knowledgeable, “Her husband and his circle of relatives had been constantly chiding her for her weight. He even claimed that she could not satisfy his physical wishes due to her shape. She was put via a lot of psychological and physical torture. Taking cognisance of these elements presented within the complaint, we’ve filed a case under sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 498-A (when a husband of a lady or his family members topic her to cruelty) and 34 (acts completed by means of a number of persons in furtherance of not unusual aim) of the Indian Penal Code towards the accused persons.”