Chennai: “You and Mom are my world. You’ve been my only hope till now, but I’ve hurt you deeply. You’re unable to say it openly, yet I know you can’t bear to see me like this. I understand your pain. I’m sorry, Father. Everything is over. I’m leaving.”

This was the voice note sent by Ridhanya to her father before she consumed fumigant pesticide tablets, allegedly driven to suicide by dowry harassment and mental torture.

Ridhyana is the 27-year-old newly married woman, who, on Saturday, died by suicide in Tamil Nadu’s Tirupur district after she was allegedly harassed for dowry by her husband and his family, the police said, adding that they have arrested the 28-year-old husband and his father.

Since then, social media has been raging with posts condemning dowry and also urging more girl parents to be accepting of women who are unable to bear torture in the in-laws' family. A phrase is going viral: When will parents understand that a divorced daughter is always better than a dead daughter?

This comes in context because, as per reports, Ridhanya had allegedly informed her parents about the abuse she was enduring in her married life, but they asked her to adjust instead of walking out.

"I’m unable to bear their mental torture every day. I don’t know whom to turn to. Those who listen tell me to compromise, saying ‘life is like this only,’ but they don’t understand my suffering,” the victim had said before killing herself.

Details of the case: Barely two months after her wedding, Ridhanya returned to her parental home on June 23, alleging harassment by her husband and in-laws over dowry, according to police.

Police officials said the couple had gotten married in April. The woman’s father alleged that despite giving dowry worth several crores—including a Volvo car valued at ₹70 lakh and 300 sovereigns of gold—his daughter faced physical and mental abuse.

"The husband and his parents pressured her to hand over all the gold and even questioned why we didn’t give 500 sovereigns instead," the father told reporters on Monday.

Police confirmed they have registered a complaint based on the woman's father's statement and will interrogate the husband and his father. "So far, we have not received any complaint against the husband's mother," an officer said.

Both families are reportedly affluent and well-known in Tirupur. "When my daughter first came back home within ten days of the wedding, we thought it was just an adjustment phase. Everyone we knew had spoken highly of the groom’s family," the father added. The investigation is currently underway.