Delhi court convicts husband in 11-year-old dowry death case
Jul 18, 2023
New Delhi [India], July 18 : A Delhi court has recently convicted a man for cruelty and dowry death of his wife in a more than 11-year-old case.
The convict's wife had died by hanging herself within 18 days of her marriage in February 2012. An FIR was registered in police station Mansarovar Park.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Pankaj Arora of Karkardooma Court convicted Deepak Mehta under sections 304 B (dowry death), 498 A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) IPC. He has been acquitted in the offence under section 406 (criminal breach of trust) IPC.
According to the prosecution, the marriage was solemnized on January 18, 2012. His wife had died by suicide and her dead body was found hanging from a ceiling fan on February 6, 2012.
The court while convicting Deepak Mehta, said, "The prosecution has successfully proved beyond reasonable doubt that between January 18 and February 6, 2012, the accused Deepak Mehta being the husband of the deceased subjected her to cruelty for unlawful demand of more dowry and on February 6, the woman died otherwise than under normal circumstances."
ASJ Panka Arora convicted him for the offences under IPC sections 498 A and 304 B, through a judgement passed on July 3.
The court will hear the arguments on sentence on September 14.
"The testimonies of prosecution witnesses were “clear, convincing, trustworthy and inspired confidence of the court and there was no reason to disbelieve them," the judge noted in the judgement.
The court said that the accused nowhere said his relation with his wife was cordial.
"Neither in his statement nor in his deposition, he has deposed as to what had transpired between him and his newly wedded wife within 18 days of his marriage. Nowhere he claimed that the relations between him and his wife were cordial," the judge noted.
The court also said that no explanation is offered by the accused in his deposition as to what prompted his deceased wife to take the extreme step of committing suicide.
The court rejected the arguments of defence counsel that there were discrepancies, contradictions, improvements in the statement of deceased's parents.
"The prosecution has successfully established the fact that the deceased was subjected to cruelty by the accused in connection with demand for dowry," the court said.
