Bombay High Court acquits a Pune man accused of dowry and assault, calling the silver plate issue temporary. Court finds no solid proof linking assault to dowry demand.
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MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court gave relief to a 33-year-old farmer from Pune, who was earlier found guilty by lower courts for asking dowry and hurting his wife. The High Court cancelled the punishment and cleared all charges against him.
The court said that the complaint about not getting food in silver plates during his wedding was only a temporary matter and cannot be considered a proper dowry demand.
The judge also said that after marriage, the husband and wife lived happily together, so the case of dowry demand was not clearly proved by the prosecution.
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Earlier, the man was found guilty under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (which is about cruelty towards a woman by her husband or his relatives), Section 323 (about causing hurt on purpose), and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act.
The Magistrate court had punished him with two years of strict jail and also fined him Rs 500, but the court let off his family members. Later, the Sessions court also supported the same punishment and did not change the decision.
In court, the prosecution said that the husband and his family tortured the woman both mentally and physically for two years. The woman, who works as a government clerk, had told the court that her husband’s family had asked for silver plates, gold rings, and other items and money during the marriage. The prosecution also said that the man had hit his wife, and his family used to insult her regularly.
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The woman’s lawyers talked about one serious incident where the wife had thrown some stale rice, and then her husband had beaten her badly. They said she became unconscious and had to be admitted to the hospital. The prosecution also said that medical reports supported these claims.
But the man’s lawyers, Amit Icham and Chaitanya Purankar, told the court that the case was false and pointed out that the medical reports and what the witnesses said did not match.
Justice Shivkumar Dige of the Bombay High Court said that there was no proof that the beating was related to dowry demands.
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He said,
“A doctor treated the woman after the assault, but it has not been proved that said assault was for dowry. No independent witness was examined to prove the allegations made against the applicant. There is a discrepancy in the evidence of the prosecution witnesses about the demand for money or goods or gold rings or gas.”
The judge also said that in cases like this, strong and proper evidence is needed.
He added:
“It is settled law that to prove the allegations of dowry demand and cruelty, evidence is needed. The lower courts have not considered the fact that the prosecution failed to prove their demand for a dowry beyond doubt. The applicant was unhappy about not being served on silver plate, but it was for a temporary period. Thereafter, he stayed with the woman happily. As observed earlier, there are discrepancies in evidence of prosecution witnesses about the demand for a dowry by the applicant.”
The man and woman were married in the year 2001 and have one child together.
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