Wife Of NRI Who Killed Himself, Attempts Suicide

Swati, the wife of the NRI software engineer G Madhukar Reddy who had recently committed suicide in the United States, and who was assaulted by her husband's relatives during his last rites in Bhongir on April 12, tried to commit suicide on Thursday midnight, and her condition is stated to be critical.

Swati, who has been distraught after the tragedy and the harsh treatment meted out to her by her husband's relatives, seemed to have herself gone into depression. On Thursday midnight, she consumed Harpic disinfectant in a bid to end her life. Her parents, on coming to know of their daughter's suicide attempt, immediately rushed her to a private hospital in nearby Kothapet. At present she is under observation, and the doctors treating her have said that for now her condition is critical and that the correct picture would be known only after 48 hours of observation.

Swati's father accused the relatives of Madhukar Reddy of driving his daughter to the extreme step, and even expressed fear for their own lives. He said that if the police failed to book the culprits who had assaulted his daughter and also drove her to attempt suicide, they would also be compelled to take their own lives.

It may be recalled here that 37-year-old Madhukar Reddy, hailing from Bhongir and a graduate of BITS Pilani, and working as a software engineer in a company in the US, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his residence at Bothel near Seattle of Washington, US. His wife Swati is also a software engineer, and they have an eight-year-old daughter.

Though the cause for Madhukar Reddy taking the extreme step is not yet clear, his wife indicated that her husband had been suffering from depression for quite some time.

However, the relatives of the deceased engineer alleged that Madhukar had taken his life due to marital discord and blamed Swati for allegedly driving him to suicide. When Swati accompanied her husband's body as it was being taken to perform the last rites, she was assaulted by the relatives, who even prevented her and her daughter from attending the last rites. She also expressed a fear of a threat to her life from them, as according to her they were worried that she would demand her husband's share in the family property.