Dr Shahana suicide: Kerala govt appoints Adv M Salahudeen as special public prosecutor
Ruwais has been charged under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code for abetment of suicide and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act for demanding dowry.
Ruwais has been charged under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code for abetment of suicide and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act for demanding dowry.
Ruwais has been charged under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code for abetment of suicide and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act for demanding dowry.
The Kerala government has appointed former Additional Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor M Salahudeen as the Special Public Prosecutor in the case relating to the suicide of Dr A J Shahana, a second-year postgraduate student of the Surgery Department at the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram.
Shahana died by suicide after her fiancé, Dr E A Ruwais, a colleague and office-bearer of the PG Association from Karunagappally in Kollam, withdrew from their proposed marriage, allegedly over dowry demands.
Salahudeen has previously handled several high-profile cases. He served as the special prosecutor in the 2011 double murder of Divya of Malainkeezh and her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter Gouri, who were killed after being thrown into the sea. He was also the Special Public Prosecutor in the 2022 Ambalamukku Vineetha murder case, in which the court awarded the death penalty to the accused. During his tenure as an Additional Public Prosecutor, he secured life imprisonment in more than 40 cases.
Shahana, 28, a native of Maithri Nagar, Venganoor, was found dead on the night of December 4, 2023, at the flat where she was staying near the Medical College. Her family has alleged that Ruwais’ family demanded 150 sovereigns of gold, one acre of land and a BMW car as dowry for the marriage.
It was alleged that a remark made by Ruwais in the presence of friends—that he would marry her only if he was given ₹1 crore and a BMW car—played a crucial role in pushing Shahana to take the extreme step. She died after injecting herself with a high dose of anaesthesia. Police recovered a suicide note in which she cited her family’s inability to meet the dowry demands.
Ruwais has been charged under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code for abetment of suicide and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act for demanding dowry. The High Court later granted him bail. Following the incident, the Indian Medical Association suspended his medical licence.