Mohali: Man who drove wife to suicide gets 7-year rigorous imprisonment

A Kharar resident has been sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for abetting his wife’s suicide in 2020.

The court of additional sessions judge Baljinder Singh Sra also imposed a fine of ₹2,000 on the convict, Rakesh Singh, who has already spent four years and three months in judicial custody. The court, thus, set off the period of detention already undergone by the convict.

The court, however, acquitted the in-laws of the deceased due to lack of evidence.

As per case files, on May 23, 2020, Kharar police received information that a woman had ended her life by hanging herself with a dupatta from a ceiling fan.

Upon arrival, police found that the deceased had already been untied from the ceiling fan, and laid on the bed by her in-laws and family members.

The deceased’s brother alleged that his sister, who married Rakesh in October 2018, was subjected to consistent harassment and abuse by her in-laws ever since she got married. On his complaint, police had booked Rakesh, his parents, brother-in-law and sister for the alleged torture over insufficient dowry.

The complainant alleged that in April 2019, when his sister was pregnant, her in-laws expelled her from the house. In June 2019, she gave birth to a son and returned to her matrimonial home after a compromise.

Following her return, she called her younger sister to inform her that her in-laws had physically assaulted her once again over dowry and were threatening to kill her.

Considering the statements of the deceased’s family that she was continuously being harassed, the court held Rakesh guilty under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.

“When the deceased was pregnant, she was expelled from the matrimonial house after physical beating. It has been proved on record that the deceased committed suicide on account of the harassment given by her husband,” the court remarked while handing seven-year RI to Rakesh.

Meanwhile, the court acquitted all accused under charges of dowry death in absence of supportive medical evidence.

“On appraisal of medical evidence on record, it transpires that deceased committed suicide. The assertion being made by the prosecution witnesses that the deceased disclosed on telephone that she was being physically assaulted is falsified by the medical evidence on record. Thus, the reliance being placed upon the aforesaid piece of evidence in order to prove the dowry demand does not carry credibility and credence,” the court held.