Neurosurgeon, mother convicted for dowry death

Sentenced to seven-year RI for abetment of suicide

A mahila court has convicted a neurosurgeon working in a government hospital and his mother for causing the death of his wife, who was a psychiatrist, by harassing her for dowry. They were sentenced to seven-year rigorous imprisonment for abetment of suicide. According to the prosecution, the first accused, Mariano Anto Bruno Mascarenhas, was a neurosurgeon in the Government Multispecialty Hospital in the Government Omandurar Estate. His wife, Amali Victoria, a postgraduate in psychiatry, was working in the Institute of Mental Health, Kilpauk. On November 5, 2014, she was found dead in the bathroom of their home in Ayanavaram, where she lived with her husband and his parents. The police initially treated her death as being under suspicious circumstances, but the family claimed she had died due to illness. The case was investigated by personnel from the Ayanavaram police station and it was found that she ended her life due to physical and mental harassment meted out by Bruno and his parents.