Rajkot: The suicide of a 35-year-old woman in a village near Rajkot city 10 day ago revealed that she took the drastic step, allegedly unable to endure the harassment from her husband for not being able to bear a healthy male child.
On Nov 12, Arunba Jadeja was found hanging at her home in Khakhadabela village of Padadhari taluka. Initially, the police registered the case as an accidental death. However, details of the alleged abuse surfaced after her brother, Shivbhardrasinh Sarvaiya, lodged a complaint naming her husband, Virendrasinh Jadeja, on Thursday.
Sarvaiya, a farmer from Juna Sagana village in Bhavnagar district's Talaja taluka, stated in the complaint that his sister's 14-year marriage was marked by distress. Arunba struggled with infertility for the first 10 years of her marriage, during which she was allegedly subjected to physical and emotional abuse.
Four years ago, she gave birth to a son, but her husband's joy turned into anger when the child was diagnosed with learning difficulties. The harassment intensified recently after she gave birth to a daughter, as Jadeja was hoping for a healthy male child. Unable to bear the persistent torture, Arunba ended her life.
Following Sarvaiya's complaint, police arrested Jadeja, a 37-year-old farmer, who was remanded in custody after his court appearance on Friday. Investigation officer SN Parmar said Jadeja has no prior criminal record.
The police have booked Jadeja under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita (BNS) dealing with abetment of suicide.