A 24-year-old woman allegedly died after drinking a toxic cleaning agent in front of her in-laws in Kerala's Kasaragod district, police said on Sunday.
Police suspect it to be a case of mental harassment by the husband and mother-in-law, based on the complaint made by deceased's family.
A case has been registered at the Vidyanagar police station based on a complaint filed by deceased's brother.
The woman's husband is detained and will be formally arrested soon, an inspector told HT.
The woman's family alleged that she was regularly mentally harassed over dowry and other matters by her husband and mother-in-law.
On Saturday, she was physically assaulted by the husband, and her phone was snatched away when she tried to contact her family.
Later, the woman went to the neighbour's house and managed to call her family, who agreed to come.
After her brother and other family members arrived, an argument ensued between the two families.
In between, the woman quickly went inside and drank a form of cleaning agent which is highly toxic.
She drank the liquid in front of her brother and husband.
The woman was rushed to a nearby government hospital, where she was declared dead on early Sunday.
The couple married over a year ago and have a two-month-old child.
The Vidyanagar police have booked the husband on charges of abetment to suicide and cruelty against a woman by her in-laws under section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
