New Delhi, March 23 A Delhi court has acquitted a man and six of his relatives in a dowry death case related to the suicide of a young woman within four months of her marriage, stating that the prosecution failed to prove cruelty or harassment for dowry beyond a reasonable doubt.
Additional Sessions Judge Babru Bhan was hearing a case against the husband, Danish, his father Naeem, relatives Rustam, Guddu alias Zulfikar, Samreen Begum alias Rani, Gudiya and Mehmooda, who were accused under Sections 498A (cruelty by husbands and relatives), 304B (dowry death) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
In an order dated March 12, the court said, "The necessary harassment and cruelty for the demand of dowry has not been proven in this case. Although some allegations have been made, they are too vague and general to prove anything."
All were arrested after the body of Naima alias Zeba, who was married to Danish on January 24, 2016, was found hanging at her matrimonial home in Shri Ram Colony in northeast Delhi on May 24, 2016. A post-mortem examination confirmed that the cause of death was asphyxia due to hanging.
According to the prosecution, the woman was subjected to physical and mental harassment by her husband and in-laws for dowry, which eventually drove her to die by suicide within months of the marriage.
The court noted that although the death had occurred within seven years of marriage and was unnatural, the prosecution failed to establish the crucial element that the woman was subjected to cruelty or harassment for dowry "shortly before her death".
"It is possible that the bitterness arising from the aforesaid complaint continued to be the reason for the dispute and petty quarrels between the deceased and accused Danish after the marriage," the court said, noting that this reason did not fulfill the elements of the offense against the accused.
It further stated that the testimonies of the deceased's mother and brother contained vague and general allegations against the accused without specifying the exact role or incidents involving each of them.
"The brother of the deceased has made some vague allegations that accused Danish used to harass his sister for demanding a motorcycle, but during cross-examination, he himself admitted that these facts were never told to him by the deceased herself, and that these were told to him by his mother, Nasima," the court said.
The court further noted that no medical records or contemporaneous complaints were produced to substantiate claims that the woman had been regularly beaten or harassed for dowry.
Holding that the prosecution's evidence was too vague and insufficient to establish the essential elements of offenses under Sections 498A and 304B of the Indian Penal Code, the court acquitted all the accused.
