TV
The Delhi High Court has denied bail to a man accused of harassing his wife which led to her alleged suicide, taking note of her parents' testimony about her alleged torture for dowry and saying that a daughter's parents do not become strangers after marriage.
In an order dated July 25, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma noted the parents' submission in the complaint which stated that the accused used to demand a motorcycle and a gold chain from the deceased and would quarrel with her for not fulfilling those demands.
Justice Sharma dismissed the accused's argument of addressing his wife's parents, who filed the complaint, "private witnesses", terming it "strange" and "far removed from the reality of Indian society".
According to the prosecution, the 18-year-old deceased hailed from Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh and was married to the accused on May 21, 2023 in Delhi. She allegedly committed suicide on February 6, 2024.
It claimed that she was being harassed for dowry and was three months pregnant at the time of her death.
"After getting their daughter married to a man residing in Delhi, they do not become 'private witnesses' qua their own daughter – they remain her parents forever. Just because they married their daughter into another city does not make them strangers or private individuals with no knowledge about her mental state or day-to-day married life," the judge said.
She added that in India, the love and affection of parents for their daughters do not cease once the daughter's life gets tied to another family or man.
"They remain emotionally and deeply connected to their daughters even after marriage. Parents, after marrying their daughters into another family, do not disown or distance themselves from them – their daughters continue to live in their hearts. To even presume that parents, merely because they married their daughter into another city, would not know about her life or would become strangers in the social context, is a flawed and unrealistic argument in itself.
"In this era of advanced communication, parents remain constantly connected with their daughters, both emotionally and virtually. That is exactly what happened in the present case," the judge said.
She said that a woman who is harassed, tortured or ill-treated for non-fulfilment of dowry often has only her parents as her support system.
"They are her only emotional shelter, even if only through words and conversation. Within the confines of her matrimonial home, she often has no one else but her parents to turn to, to seek help and to report the problems she is facing.
"When demands are made from her, it is her parents who she informs, shares her distress with and expresses what she is going through. This is precisely what is reflected in the complaint and in the statements of the parents in the present case," the judge said.
The judge also noted the statement of the victim's father that during a live video call, he could do nothing but watch his daughter being beaten by the man to whom she had been married only nine months earlier.
This testimony starkly reflects the helplessness of a father, Justice Sharma said.
She further noted that the father did not report the matter to the police immediately, "possibly out of a hope that the situation would resolve and his daughter would eventually find peace in her marriage".
"It is also a reflection of the burden and emotional trauma that parents go through while witnessing abuse yet refraining from immediately reporting the matter to police, often with the desire to preserve the sanctity of the matrimonial bond and ensure their daughter's marriage survives," Justice Sharma said.
She also noted that after the victim's death, her father had requested the accused to at least show him his daughter once on a video call, which he denied.
"The pain of being denied even that final glimpse of a daughter who had unfortunately passed away cannot be put into words," the judge said.
