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

By Gunwanti Paraste

Despite figuring out she used to be overweight ahead of the marriage ceremony, husband’s family picked on her many times, dumped her at her folks’, sought divorce

With her weight problems being held against 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 used to be pushed to committing suicide. A 12 months in the past, she used to be dumped at her folks’ home and in spite of all her efforts, Priyanka Pethkar could not convey her husband and his family to just accept her as she used to be — on May 25, she hanged herself.

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

Priyanka used to be married to Kedar, a farmer from Phaltan in Satara, in 2015. “She weighed 110 kg even ahead of the marriage. Yet, her weight became a subject matter after the wedding and Kedar used to be pressuring her for a divorce,” Pushkarraj advised Mirror. “There have been no complaints initially. However, quickly they saved taunting that she could not do any work due to her weight. When she sought to have a look at the farms owned by means of her husband, he retorted that they may be able to be noticed only after she shed some weight. They’d pick out on her despite the fact that she made some instant noodles for herself,” he added.

Next, they blamed her not getting pregnant after two years of marriage on her weight problems, insisting that she used to be unable to conceive due to her physical situation. They even resorted to starving her with smaller foods, once in a while only a single meal an afternoon. “The physical torture and psychological harassment fixed on her used to be unrelenting. Then, a 12 months in the past, they introduced her to her maternal home — in Bhosari — and simply left her there. The deficient lady started exercising and dieting, nevertheless it used to be futile. The final straw used to be her husband tough a divorce and breaking all verbal exchange along with her. She used to be utterly devastated and unable to take the abuse and rejection anymore,” the bereaved brother pointed out.

Senior police inspector at the Bhosari police station, Shankar Avatade, recounted the reasons for Priyanka’s suicide at her folks’ position and informed, “Her husband and his family have been continuously chiding her for her weight. He even claimed that she could not fulfill his physical needs due to her form. She used to be put through numerous psychological and physical torture. Taking cognisance of these factors introduced in the criticism, we’ve filed a case underneath sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 498-A (when a husband of a woman or his kinfolk subject her to cruelty) and 34 (acts completed by means of several individuals in furtherance of common purpose) of the Indian Penal Code against the accused individuals.”