HC disposes of dowry torture case against Rajashree

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court (HC) on Wednesday disposed of a dowry torture case filed by Barsa Swony Choudhury, daughter-in-law of former minister Raghunath Mohanty, against her husband Rajashree.

Court sources said the judgement of the HC was based on the affidavit filed by Barsa on June 14 urging the court to dismiss the case against her husband. Citing that the matter had been amicably settled, she had told the court that she wanted to start her conjugal life afresh.

In a joint a press conference in Bhubaneswar on May 25, the couple had announced that their ‘family dispute’ had been solved and they wanted to live together again.

While there are no charges pending against Rajashree, the Balasore District & Sessions court, in a major relief to Mohanty and his wife Pritilata, had dropped charges of domestic violence (DV) leveled against them by Barsa in March this year.

In 2013, Barsha had filed the domestic violence case at the Balasore Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) court against her estranged husband Rajashree in which she had made her father-in-law and mother-in-law, among others, as parties. The former Law and Urban Development Minister and his wife were arrested from West Bengal later the same year.

Barsha had alleged that her in-laws had been torturing her for getting, among other things, a vehicle and Rs. 25 lakh in cash. She had also accused her husband of having extra-marital affairs.