Man acquitted in dowry harassment case

A man, accused of torturing his wife for bringing insufficient dowry, has been acquitted by a Delhi court which said the woman had made vague allegations against her husband.
Metropolitan Magistrate Geetanjali while acquitting Rajkumar, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, said the woman made vague allegations regarding cruelty committed by him towards her as she had not given any particular detail of even one incident.
"I hold that prosecution has failed to establish the kind of cruelty as prescribed under section 498 A (subjecting woman to cruelty) of IPC (and the) accused deserves acquittal. Hence, Rajkumar is acquitted of the offences under Section 498 A/34 of IPC and 3/4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act," the magistrate said.

Rajkumar, along with his parents and brother, was booked by the police under IPC for cruelty towards his wife, criminal breach of trust and under the Dowry Prohibition Act.
His parents and brother were earlier discharged by the court.
According to the prosecution, Santosh was married to accused Rajkumar in 1982 and after their marriage, her husband and mother-in-law started demanding dowry from her.

She filed a complaint on August 8, 2000, alleging that her husband harassed her mentally and physically for bringing insufficient dowry and coerced her to meet their demands.
The court noted that the woman has deposed that sufficient dowry articles were given in her marriage but in cross examination, she admitted the valuables were given by her parents out of their own free will.

It said the woman had nowhere stated that the articles were retained by her husband and he had refused to return them.
"I am of the considered opinion that the prosecution has failed to prove the allegations under section 406 (criminal breach of trust) of IPC beyond reasonable doubt and accused Rajkumar is hereby acquitted of the offence charged," the magistrate said.
During the trial, Rajkumar had said he was innocent and had been falsely implicated in the case.