Man pushes wife into Shivanasamudra, held

Praveen Kumar | NT
Bengaluru, Nov. 2

What seemed like a family trip to Shivanasamudra falls turned into a near-fatal accident for a 22-year-old woman, when her husband tried to kill her by pushing her into the water. Fortunately, she was rescued by other tourists who rushed to her aid. She has filed an attempt to murder case against her husband.

Harshiya Banu, who is a resident of Yarabnagar 2nd block, was in a troubled marriage. Her husband, Hafeez Sheriff is said to be a vagabond who constantly tormented his wife for money. At the time of the wedding two years ago, her parents supposedly gave the family Rs 2.2. lakh as dowry.
“My son-in-law was constantly threatening to kill my daughter,” Harshiya’s father, Abdul Nazeer, told News Trail. He alleges that this isn’t his first murder attempt either. The incident took place when Harshiya, Hafeez and his parents took a short trip to Shivanasamudra falls.

“He pushed her into the water and wanted to make it look like an accident,” said Nazeer. “My daughter was rescued by a few tourists. He took her there saying he wanted to sort out their differences and mend his behaviour. My daughter was lying unconscious for over 15 minutes after being rescued. We were ready to file a police complaint at that time but he pleaded with us, asking to be pardoned.” Hafeez allegedly tried to murder his wife because she refused to bring him money from her parents. After this failed attempt, Hafeez tried to bludgeon his wife’s head in with a stone as she slept. Harshiya woke up, however and found her husband standing over her with a stone. Afraid for her life, she moved out of the house and began to live separately. “Even after this, he would barge into her house and tried to kick her abdomen hoping to murder her. She immediately telephoned my son and wife. When the two rushed to her rescue, Sheriff tried assaulted them as well, after which we went to the women’s police station and filed a complaint,” Nazeer added. The complaint has been filed at a women’s police station.

Police have recorded the statements of the victim and have asked her to provide witnesses to the accusations made against her husband and parents-in-law.

“The case is still under investigation. The victim has been asked to provide witness statements. Her mother and son are the possible witnesses. The husband has been booked for attempt to murder under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with other IPC sections,” said an officer who is part of the investigating team.