Santhamma Dev, the wife of late Malayalam actor Rajan P Dev, was arrested Wednesday in relation to the suicide case of her daughter-in-law. Priyanka, who was found hanging at her home in Kerala last year, had reportedly filed a complaint of domestic violence prior to her death.
The deceased's husband Unni was arrested at the time and later secured bail. As per New Indian Express, Santhamma or Santha did not face police action after the suicide in May 2021 since she was not keeping well.
She too was released soon after her arrest by Thiruvananthapuram police on Wednesday citing an anticipatory bail.
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Dev died in 2009 of liver disease. He was a film and stage actor with credits across the Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu industries. He and Uma have three children together. Unni, who was arrested in his wife's death case, is also an actor.
Priyanka was a physical education teacher at a local school and was found hanging at her parents' home in Vembayam on May 12, 2021. She was 26 years old. Priyanka and Unni had tied the knot in 2019 and the marriage had allegedly turned discordant. She had returned to live with her parents.
Priyanka's parents accused Unni and his mother of domestic violence, mental harassment and dowry pressures, as per reports, and had filed a police complaint in the matter.
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Relatives of the deceased alleged there were bruises on her body from the violence she suffered during her marriage, Manorama reports. Unni and his family were allegedly demanding more dowry and often fought with Priyanka. Reports suggest Unni had even sold some gold belonging to Priyanka during the pandemic.
Image features Unni and Priyanka (Source:
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