A 25-year-old woman from Janakpur committed suicide by taking poison after she was repeatedly tortured by her in-laws for more dowry, according to the police. A resident of
Janakpur sub-metropolitan-4 Sarhanchiya Shanti Nagar, Seema Sharma also poisoned her two year-old-daughter Gauri before consuming the poison herself.
According to Govinda Thapalia, Superintendent at District Police Office Dhanusha, Sharma was often harassed by her husband and in-laws. “Preliminary investigation shows that she faced mental and physical torture,” says SP Thapaliya. “Sharma’s 65-year-old father-in-law Shyam Sundar Mishra and 60-year-old mother-in-law Kiran Mishra have been arrested on the charge of forcing someone to commit suicide. Her husband Sameer Mishra is at large.”
Meanwhile, there have been protests in Janakpur demanding stern action against the accused. A torch rally has also been staged to mourn the death of Sharma and her daughter.

"The dowry system is a social scourge that has deep roots in Madhes. Until when will women in this country be beaten and burnt for it?" Gunja Raya, A women’s rights activist from Mahottari

Managing dowry by selling property

Seema’s family, who hail from Loharpatti-7 Bhrampur in Mahottari, gave Rs 1.1 million to the Mishra family in dowry when she got married. Her father Jaya Narayan, who has been working overseas for the past 15 years, managed the dowry his daughter’s in-laws demanded—Rs 800,000 in cash, a Pulsar motorcycle worth Rs 236,000 and two tolas of gold—by selling his land. Seema and Sameer had gotten married on May 12, 2013 in the Maithili tradition.
Seema’s brother Sujit Kumar says her in-laws used to demand more money and jewelry and threatened to kick her out in case their demands were not met. “We managed to give them whatever they asked for, even by taking out loans, in the hope that my
sister could live with them safely and peacefully. Still they continued to demand cash, gold and other valuables just as a condition for her to visit her family.”
On the night of Jan 14, Sharma took a farm pesticide called Salfas to poison her daughter Gauri and herself. Gauri passed away the following day. Seema breathed her last a day later.
When Seema fell sick after consuming the poison, her husband immediately took her to Janaki Health Care and Research Center on his motorcycle. Because the Center did not have an Intensive Care Unit, she was rushed to the Ram Janaki Hospital. She died on the way.
Gunja Raya, a women’s rights activist from Mahottari, says the dowry system is a social scourge that has deep roots in Madhes. “Women are forced to commit suicide when they are unable to fulfill the dowry demands,” she says. “Until when will women in this country continue to be beaten and burnt in the name of dowry?”