Domestic violence: Man, in-laws freed as wife turns hostile

A man, who along with his brother and sister-in-law, was accused of torturing his wife for bringing insufficient dowry, has been acquitted by a Delhi court after the woman turned hostile.
Metropolitan magistrate Shivani Chauhan absolved Bihar native Ravinder Singh, his brother Kishan Kumar and sister-in- law Neelam of the charges under sections 498A (subjecting wife to cruelty) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the IPC.
"When the complainant (woman) deposed before the court, she did not narrate any incident of the cruelty. None of the material witnesses i.E the woman's mother or father have supported the case of the prosecution as all of them turned hostile.

"In these circumstances, it is held that prosecution has failed to prove any allegations of cruelty, dowry demand and criminal breach of trust against any of the accused," the magistrate said while acquitting them.
According to the prosecution, the woman, who got married to Ravinder in February 2001, had alleged that all the three accused used to taunt her on petty issues and demanded dowry.
It further said that her husband used to beat her up everyday under the influence of alcohol and her sister-in-law and brother-in-law also physically tortured her while pressuring her to arrange money from time to time.

The court, while acquitting the accused, noted that no specific date or time of any such incident was mentioned by the woman in her complaint.
"The complaint is already silent, qua the specific role of each accused in the alleged incidents," it said.
During the trial, the accused had denied the allegations and claimed they were falsely implicated by the woman.