"Psychological Trauma...": Delhi High Court On Dowry Deaths

The judicial system cannot stand by and allow the economic circumstances of a woman's parents to become her death warrants in her matrimonial home, the Delhi High Court has observed, emphasising the need to address with a heavy hand the issue of dowry.

The High Court made the observations while refusing to interfere with a trial court judgment awarding 10-year jail to a man in a case of dowry death and cruelly towards his wife.

The High Court said the appeal filed by the man challenging the trial court's order pertains to 2009 and he has been on bail for over 14 years. The man had remained in custody for four years and 11 months. The High Court directed him to surrender to serve the unexpired portion of his sentence within 30 days.

The man and the woman got married in March 1999 and a girl child was born to them in January 2000. The woman's parents had said in the statement that she was being subjected to harassment for non-fulfilment of dowry demands of her husband and his family.

The woman died by suicide at her matrimonial home in May 2000 by hanging herself to a ceiling fan.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said the case presents a tragedy in which continuous demands of dowry made by the husband pushed his wife into despair so profound that she felt compelled to take her own life.

"This serves as a reminder of how the forces of greed can often eclipse the sanctity of human life and the bonds of matrimony. The collective experience of victims of dowry death, as narrated through their near ones after their demise as also visible in the present case, lays bare the excruciating psychological trauma that women endure when subjected to dowry demands...," the high court said.

"It signifies a significant failure in our societal mindset. The courts cannot side with people who perpetuate this failure," the judge said.

The court said the step taken by the deceased woman to take her own life speaks volumes about the deafening cry in the silence of death.

It is a reminder that, in her absence, the courts must step in to become the voice of those who can no longer speak for themselves, the judge said.

The court said this case lays bare the anguish of a married woman who found herself trapped in her marital home, enduring relentless torment akin to custodial violence since she was not even permitted to call her parents on phone or visit them.

Her suffering reached a point where she was denied even the most basic necessities, such as food and clothing, compelling her to borrow clothes from her sister, it noted.

"To subject a woman to a life akin to a slave merely because of her marital status is an egregious injustice. When parents arrange their daughters' marriages, they do so with hopes and dreams, never anticipating that their cherished child will be stripped of the fundamental necessities they have been accustomed to since birth.

"It is both inhumane and inconceivable that a woman who willingly makes the sacrifice of leaving her childhood home where she was nurtured and raised, should find herself treated as an inferior being after she gets married," it said.

The court said she should never become a target, facing the threat of violence or deprivation, merely because her parents cannot satisfy the insatiable demands of her in-laws.

"This court emphatically asserts that the judicial system cannot stand by and allow the economic circumstances of a girl's parents to become death warrants and sentences for their daughters in their matrimonial homes," Justice Sharma said.

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