New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Friday strongly criticised incidents of harassment linked todowrydemands while hearing a case involving the death of a woman found hanging at her matrimonial home. A bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan heard the case. The court also highlighted the need to send a deterrent message to prevent such cases.
"Why do boys marry and then insult girls and their families?" Justice Nagarathna remarked. The top court further observed that brides cannot be insulted.
"Let a message go out that they cannot continue insulting the bride and her family," Justice Nagarathna added. The bench refused to grant relief to the husband’s family members convicted in the case.
The bench refused to overturn the decisions of the trial court and the Chhattisgarh High Court, both of which had confirmed the convictions under IPC Sections 304B (dowry death), 306 (abetment to suicide), and 498A (cruelty and harassment).
The case relates to a 2010 incident in Chhattisgarh in which a woman was found hanging within three years of her marriage. According to the prosecution, she had been subjected to continuous harassment and repeated dowry demands, including requests for money and a car, by her husband and his relatives.
The prosecution alleged that the woman faced persistent harassment and pressure over dowry demands, with her husband and in-laws allegedly seeking money and a car.
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The trial court ruled that the woman's death occurred under unnatural circumstances within seven years of marriage, triggering the statutory presumption of dowry death. As per the trial court, evidence from the woman’s family indicated repeated financial demands and cruelty “soon before” her death. Medical evidence confirmed death by asphyxia due to hanging. The court held that persistent dowry demands and payments were made shortly before the woman's death.
Several members of the family of the woman's husband were convicted under provisions including Sections 304B (dowry death), 306 (abetment of suicide), and 498A (cruelty and harassment). The Chhattisgarh High Court upheld the trial court's judgment.
The petition before the Supreme Court was by a younger brother-in-law of the husband of the deceased, seeking relief from conviction. The petitioners' counsel argued that his client was only charged under Section 498A IPC.
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