Thiruvananthapuram: Police have intensified the probe into the unnatural death of Priyanka, the daughter-in-law of late actor Rajan P Dev.
The case of unnatural death was registered after investigators inspected the visuals Priyanka had recorded before her death, and her phone call records. The probe is against Unni P Dev, the deceased woman's husband and Rajan P Dev's son.
In one of the video clips purportedly of Priyanka, she was seen forced to stand on the courtyard of the house at Angamaly an entire night by Unni and his family. Unni could also be heard shouting profanities at the woman. Police said they were examining the incident in detail.
Police have taken as primary evidence the marks on Priyanka's body, suggesting that she had been assaulted. Investigators were looking at the incidents of April 9 night, a day before Priyanka's brother took her back to Thiruvananthapuram from her husband's residence in Angamaly.
Though Priyanaka informed her brother that she had been assaulted, the man asked her to contact the Angamaly police since the lockdown prevented him from travelling to Ernakulam.
It has been alleged that police had not acted despite Priyanka reporting the alleged brutality. Her husband's family punished her for informing the police by making her spend the entire night outside the house.
Priyanka recorded the visuals of her spending the night in the open and forwarded it to her mother and brother. She was seen crying in the visuals. It was then that her family realized the gravity of the situation.
The next morning, Priyanka's brother reached Angamaly and took her home, and provided her medical treatment. Though her family approached the police seeking their intervention, the officers reportedly asked them to contact the Angamaly police.
Priyanka detailed to her mother the torture she had been subjected to at her husband's place. The family hoped that the police would intervene on their behalf. While talking to her mother, Priyanka received a phone call. Later, her body was found hanging in the room where she had gone to attend the call.
The probe has now been focusing on the call Priyanka had last received. Her mother recalled that Unni had assaulted Priyanka even in their house at Vembayam in Thiruvananthapuram, mostly demanding more money and property.
Each time, the family met Unni’s demands, hoping that Priyanka would be spared from the torture.
Police were now considering slapping more charges against Unni, including those relevant sections under the Dowry Prevention Act and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act. The man’s mother and other relatives, too, might be charged.
Meanwhile, Priyanka’s family expressed hope that the police would soon arrest those responsible for her death.
