Agartala: A new mother killed herself after being brutally humiliated in an arbitration meeting convened by the village elders to decide whether her husband was the biological father of her third child in the Moti Nagar area under the Sepahijala district of Tripura on Sunday.
Even as her husband pleaded with the villagers and confirmed that it was his child, the community heads ostracised the family as punishment for the woman for bearing another man’s child.
Unsettled after facing humiliation and insult in the meeting, the woman committed suicide. The Sonamura police station has registered a case in the matter.
Local sources said the deceased, Beauty Begam, a resident of the Melaghar area, married Delowar Hossain from the Sonamura area of the same district. The first eight years of their marriage passed off smoothly and she gave birth to two children (a daughter and a son). But around eight months back, her husband shifted to Chennai for work purposes owing to financial constraints.
In the meantime, Begam became pregnant once again. Due to some medical complications, doctors had to conduct a premature delivery procedure on her, and she gave birth to the baby before her gestation period was over.
Her premature delivery in her husband’s absence stirred controversy in the village, prompting people to question her character. ASHA worker Parveen Begam reportedly spread the whole issue all over the village, leaving Beauty and her family in an embarrassing situation.
When controversy escalated, community elders summoned Beauty’s in-laws for an arbitration meeting. When Beauty narrated the issue to her husband, he also reached Sonamura days before the meeting.
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During the hearing, all the arguments raised by Beauty’s husband and in-laws fell on deaf ears, and community leaders unilaterally imposed an order of social boycott of the family as punishment for bearing another man’s child despite being in a marriage.
Shortly after the meeting, Beauty committed suicide by hanging herself by the house ceiling. On being informed, a team of police rushed to the spot and recovered the mortal remains of the lady who became a mother just a few days back.
Police sources said the in-laws of the deceased woman filed an FIR with the local police against the ASHA worker responsible for spreading misleading information among locals that later took such a drastic turn.
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