New Delhi, Oct 26 A Delhi court has acquitted a man and his mother in a 2016 dowry death case, saying the prosecution failed to establish a link between dowry harassment and the woman's death.
Additional Sessions Judge Hargurvarinder Singh Jaggi was hearing a case against Tarun Shakyaver and his mother Nirmala Shakyaver, who were accused of charges under IPC Sections 498A (cruelty by husband or relatives), 304B (dowry death) and 306 (abetment of suicide).
“The prosecution has failed to prove any proximate dowry harassment 'soon before death'. Furthermore, no evidence of abetment under IPC Section 306 or criminal breach of trust under Section 406 IPC has been adduced,” the court said in its order on October 24.
The court said the prosecution had failed to establish a proximate link between the alleged dowry harassment and the woman's death, and held that the statutory presumption of dowry death stood rebutted by the defence evidence.
According to prosecution, Bharti Sharma, who married Tarun on February 24, 2016, was found hanging from a ceiling fan at her matrimonial home in south Delhi's Chhatarpur Extension on September 20 the same year. The postmortem report attributed her death to asphyxia due to hanging.
Her father had alleged that she was subjected to physical and mental cruelty over dowry demands, loan repayments and jewellery. The prosecution also alleged that her in-laws pressured her to take loans and misappropriated her wedding jewellery.
The defence, however, relied on medical records showing that Bharti had received psychiatric treatment for acute and transient psychosis from April to August 2016. The court noted that her psychiatrist had advised immediate hospitalisation in August 2016.
The court held that the defence had established that Bharti's prescribed psychiatric medication was discontinued while she was staying at her parental home and that she was subjected to exorcism instead of being hospitalised as advised.
It also noted that forensic evidence did not indicate a physical struggle and that records showed regular repayment of the husband's gold loan.
Finding the allegations of dowry demands and financial harassment vague and unsupported by sufficient evidence, the court concluded that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
