Husband, in-laws acquitted in 2013 dowry death case

New Delhi: A court here has acquitted a man, his parents and two sisters in a 2013 dowry death, saying the core ingredient for the offence was missing as the woman had died after divorce.

Additional Sessions Judge Sachin Sangwan was hearing the case against the husband Dinesh Kumar Bidhuri, his parents and two married sisters, against whom the Okhla Industrial Area police station had registered an FIR in 2013 for the penal offences of causing dowry death and inflicting cruelty on a married woman.

According to the complaint, Bidhuri married Neetu in 2010 and tortured her for dowry. Despite knowing that she suffered from tuberculosis, the husband and in-laws did not provide her any medical treatment.

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When Neetu was ailing because of the disease, the in-laws simply took her to a government hospital and abandoned her without any care, following which she died on December 12, 2013, it alleged.

In its verdict pronounced on Tuesday, the court said, “The date of deceased’s death was about four months after the divorce decree and the death cannot be termed as a dowry death of a married female in legal terms. Hence, the core ingredient for the offence is missing in the present case.”

Regarding the charge of cruelty, it said, “A person can be held liable for the acts of cruelty done by him during the subsistence of the marriage but not after the dissolution of marriage.”

The court also said that there were various inconsistencies in the testimonies of the deceased’s father, mother and brother.

It noted that Neetu’s second brother had denied any dowry demand or lack of care and medical treatment by Bidhuri or his relatives.

He said the reasons for disturbance in his sister’s marriage were “the regular interference” of his mother and elder brother.

The court noted the post-mortem report, according to which the cause of death was complications because of pneumonia.

Noting the evidence before it, the court said, “It appears that the parental family of the deceased dumped her at her in-laws’ place against the wishes of in-laws since the divorce petition was already filed by the accused husband in July 2012 itself.”

Making these observations, the court acquitted the accused persons of all charges.

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