‘Moral consciousness imperative to check crime against women’
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 3: While rejecting bail application of accused in the dowry death case, Additional Sessions Judge Jammu Tahir Khurshid Raina has observed that laws alone cannot help in protecting women from the crime and society has to play a greater role in this regard.
The case before the court was that in the month of June 2020 marriage of the deceased was solemnized with accused and she committed suicide in the month of August.
Accordingly, FIR was registered at Police Station Domana and after completion of investigation challan was presented for the commission of offence of dowry death as defined in Section 304 B of Indian Penal Code.
In the charge-sheet, it has been mentioned that all the three accused Vinod Kumar (husband of the deceased) and Madan Lal and Veena Devi (parents-in-law) were demanding more dowry in the shape of a vehicle and cash which was beyond the financial reach of her parents. The husband before leaving for his place of posting physically assaulted her and during the whole span of his physical absence continuously tortured her on phone while parents in law kept the pot boiling back home.
While rejecting the arguments of the counsel for the accused that the husband was away from home and allegations of cruelty against the deceased are false and baseless, court observed, “technological revolution has rendered such argument meritless as mobile connectivity has shrunk the whole world and has rendered distances immaterial”, adding “mental cruelty is equally dangerous as that of physical cruelty”.
“Presumption of dowry death of a woman on account of dowry demand by in-laws as put in Section 113-B of Evidence Act gets attracted in such cases where material on record clearly indicates continuous cruelty of woman on such count”, the court said, adding “the call details record speaks of continuous connection between the two with allegations of dowry demand and torture by husband on phone and parents in law back home”.
“It prima facie gives an impression of dowry death of the deceased”, the Judge further said, adding “at the stage of deciding bail application when even charge is yet to be framed against the accused court has not to go by the test of proof of beyond reasonable doubt but it is test of prima facie appreciation of material brought before the court by the police in the form of charge sheet has to be applied and which clearly reflects it to be a case of dowry death unless proved otherwise”.
“When a young girl of twenty years has committed suicide at her matrimonial home, just after two months of her marriage with alleged history of continuous cruelty committed to her by in-laws on account of demand of more dowry, this court does not find any merit in this bail application at this stage”, Additional Sessions Judge said and accordingly rejected the bail application.
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