Husband, in-laws get seven years jail in dowry death case

A man, along with his mother and two other family members, has been jailed for seven years by a Delhi court for the death of his wife following dowry demand with the judge saying the victim had been treated cruelly and had died in unnatural circumstances.
Additional Sessions Judge Virender Kumar Goyal awarded the jail term to Manjeet Singh, 31, his brother Mukesh Singh, 38, sister-in-law Sheela, 36, and mother Omwati, 55, after holding them guilty in the dowry death case in which the woman, Jyoti, had died within five years of her marriage.
"The incident has taken place within five years of the marriage. Accused have treated Jyoti with cruelty prior to her death and had harassed her. The death has taken place in unnatural circumstances. It is also proved from the deposition of prosecution witnesses that soon before her death, Jyoti was treated with cruelty by the accused for demand of dowry.

"Besides the injury on neck appeared due to hanging, deceased was also found sustaining other injuries, which have not been opined as old one nor have been explained by the accused persons," the court.
It imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 each on the four convicts, residents of Sultanpuri here.
It also awarded a compensation of Rs four lakh to the two-and-a-half-year daughter of Jyoti on account of loss of love and affection and the cost of upbringing and maintenance of the minor.

Out of the compensation amount, Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh would be paid by Manjeet and Mukesh respectively.

The court, however, acquitted the four of the charges of murdering the victim, saying no evidence has been brought on record that they murdered her and it has been proved that she committed suicide by hanging herself.
According to the prosecution, Jyoti, who had married Manjeet in January 2007, was found hanging in her matrimonial house in November 2011.
The case was registered on the complaint of Jyoti's brother alleging that her husband and in-laws used to harass and torture her for dowry and also beat her.