A Texas woman whose complaints about her abusive estranged husband were ignored by authorities was killed by him, according to her lawyer who was working with her on their divorce.
Nityadevi Ramroop, 35, was fatally shot outside a Katy, Texas home that she was trying to keep a secret from her husband Beesham Ramroop, given allegations of repeated abuse he inflicted on her as well as threats she faced from him, her lawyer Uche Ohia tells PEOPLE.
Beesham then stabbed her sister with a piece of glass before she could fight him off and call police, according to Ohia. He took off and died by suicide, according to law enforcement, ABC 13 reports.
Ohia says that Nityadevi, mother of three, had notified authorities several times about Beesham abusing her, stalking her and, on one occasion, vandalizing her car, but no charges were filed in any of those cases.
The incidents spanned across two jurisdictions: two of them were under the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and one was with the the Fort Bend Sheriff’s Office.
After their separation, Beesham was allegedly spotted following Nityadevi on a few occasions. He reportedly once followed her to a friend’s house and when authorities arrived upon being notified, they did not take any action claiming a crime had not been committed, Ohia says.
In another reported incident, he followed her to a location where she was enjoying a night out with friends, and pushed her and tried to drag her out of the bar, according to Ohia. A friend’s husband intervened, sparing her, before Beesham went out and vandalized her car.
There was footage of the vandalizing, Ohia says, but the Fort Bend Sheriff’s Department did not charge Beesham. PEOPLE has reached out to the department regarding the matter, but they did not immediately respond for comment.
A spokesperson for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in Houston, Texas told ABC 13 that Nityadevi contacted them in June claiming Beesham was following her and asked about her options, but they told her to contact her attorney. The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for responses to these statements.
“When Nityadevi [first] came to me, she reported that there’d been years of physical abuse in her marriage,” says Ohia, who began working with her about a year ago. “She was afraid he was going to continue abusing her more so because she wanted a divorce.”
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The couple had been married for almost 18 years, according to the lawyer. During this time, he allegedly subjected her to abuses and threats, including one instance when he was “playing around with knives” in front of her, became aggressive and “pushed her down” in front of their children, Ohia says. There were indications that the children were afraid of him as he would often say “inappropriate” things about their mother to them.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services was contacted regarding their situation as well, according to ABC 13 and Ohia’s account.
In addition to abuse allegations, tensions were high because of marital property and custody issues between the couple, according to Ohia. Beesham had made threats directly to Nityadevi as well as mentioned to his friend that she would face consequences if she continued trying to get her share of their marital estate.
He wasn’t the only one allegedly harassing her – his family members were involved as well, often contacting her workplace, Ohia says. Beesham’s sister once followed Nityadevi to a grocery store to confront her.
Despite these concerns, Nityadevi was still hopeful that she would soon overcome the challenges of the situation.
“We had many conversations about what she should do to protect herself, her children, to get her share of the marital estate and start her life over,” Ohia says.