A Delhi court has acquitted five persons of a family, including the husband and the mother-in-law of a woman, in a case of alleged dowry harassment, stating that the victim had made no complaints about her harassment at their hands before lodging an FIR against them in 2006.
The victim’s father-in-law was also an accused, but he passed away during the trial and hence the trial was abated against him.
The couple got married on April 29, 2003. The woman in her complaint at Nand Nagri police station alleged that her husband and in-laws had subjected her to cruelty demanding ₹3.5 lakh in lieu of a car. She gave specific dates on which she was beaten up. She also said that on December 25, 2003, they tried to burn her.
The victim moved an appeal against a Metropolitan Magistrate court order acquitting all the accused on the ground that no demand was made by the accused in presence of any eyewitness.
Additional Sessions Judge Sanjeev Kumar Malhotra said “Complainant/appellant has admitted that prior to June 7, 2006, she had never made any complaint to any authority or police nor did she avail treatment from any hospital. The trial court rightly held that prosecution has not been able to prove the charge under 498 A/34 IPC against respondents.”
