What Happened the Night Vismaya Died: In-Laws’ Differing Versions

Vismaya V Nair was found hanging in her husband’s house in Kollam district of Kerala on 21 June.

Vismaya had confided in her cousin about her husband being physically abusive and harassing her over dowry.

(Photo: TNM)

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The death of 24-year-old Vismaya V Nair in Kerala’s Kollam district has put the focus back on dowry harassment.

She was found hanging in the bathroom of her husband Kiran Kumar’s home in Sasthamkotta, Kollam.

Vismaya died a few days after she sent messages to a cousin confessing that she was subjected to brutal domestic violence by her husband, an official at the Motor Vehicle Department. While her husband has surrendered before the police and is undergoing interrogation, his parents are providing contrasting versions to different media houses.

‘Heard Sounds From Their Room at 2:30 am’

In an interview with to Manorama News, Kiran’s father Sadasivan Pillai said that his wife and him woke up to sounds from the couple’s room around 2:30 am on Monday, 21 June.

Pillai said that while Vismaya wanted to head home right away, she was assured that they could discuss it in the morning.

“When I got up around 2.30 am to use the toilet, I heard a sound from their room. My wife also woke up around the same time to use the toilet. Around 15-20 minutes later, we again heard some noise in their room, which is on the first floor. When we went to enquire, Vismaya said she wanted to go home. Kiran had withheld her phone... I think. We assured her and said we could discuss that in the morning. We even said she could sleep in the other room on the ground floor. They sat together and discussed for some time, and resolved the issue for the time being. We then went back to sleep.”  

Sadasivan Pillai to <i>Manorama News</i>, as quoted by <i>The News Minute</i>

Kiran’s mother, Chadramathi said that they later heard Kiran crying out for them. “He said Vismaya was lying in the bathroom. He started gasping for breath. We called a friend (Pradeep) and took her to the hospital," The News Minute reported.

No Mention of Snatching of Phone in Another Interview

In a Kerrala Kaumudy interview, Kiran’s mother did not mention that she was woken up at 2:30 am, neither did she mention that Vismaya’s phone was snatched away from her son.

"I was hearing voices from their room that we went there. Then she said she wanted to go home. Kiran's dad then said that it was late in the night and the house was not nearby," the mother said, in the interview.

“Her family could also come here, but they hardly ever visited. Even for (Kiran and Vismaya’s) wedding anniversary, they did not even call or message. Kiran and Vismaya bought a cake and cut it together. They were always so happy together,” claimed the mother, TNM quoted.

In this interview, the mother does not mention that Vismaya made this request at 2.30 am. She also does not say that Kiran had confiscated Vismaya’s phone. Instead, she shifts the blame to Vismaya’s parents.

In the third interview to Marunadan Malayali portal, Chandramathi reportedly said that Vismaya’s parents may have planned to ‘trap’ Kiran and it is a part of this plan that Vismaya would insist on going to her house, TNM reported.

“I feel her father was trying to trap my son by making Vismaya insist that she wants to go home,” she told Marunadan.

In the same interview, the mother also said that Vismaya gets this ‘disease’ in the night, insisting to go to her house.

In all these interviews, they maintain that Kiran was unhappy with the Toyota Yaris car that was gifted to him during the wedding, and also admitted that the issue has led to fights between the couple.

Vismaya and Kiran got married on 31 May 2020 when she was 22 years old. A case has been registered under Section 304 B (dowry harassment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has conferred the probe to Inspector General Harshita Attaluri.

(With inputs from The News Minute)