On an FIR lodged by an aggrieved woman alleging cruelty by the in-laws, the Bombay High Court has squashed proceedings against her sister-in-law, but restored the case against the husband and his parents.
The FIR was filed by the woman against her husband, his parents as well as her sister-in-law at Nigdi Police Station in Pune. The complainant was a teacher in a school.
Justices S C Dharmadhikari and S B Shukre were of the view that the FIR did not disclose any offence as regards the sister-in-law of the complainant, Anuradha Sahasrabudhe. Hence, he quashed the FIR against her.
As regards the father-in-law and mother-in-law of the complainant, namely, Chintaman and Shulba Chakradev, the court noted that the police had filed charge sheet against them early this year in the trial court and their counsel had argued on last occasion that he would move for discharge of the accused in the concerned court.
Hence, the portion of FIR concerning them was not set aside and their petition was disposed of.
The petition had been filed by the father-in-law, mother-in-law and sister-in-law of the complainant seeking quashing of the FIR registered against them. The FIR had alleged cruelty, criminal intimidation and harassment caused to the housewife due to dowry demands raised by the in-laws.
The marriage of the teacher was solemnised with Girish Chakradev on January 28, 2012. Soon after the marriage, she alleged that Girish started harassing her and used to demand from her an amount of Rs 25 lakh to enable him to undertake a journey to Germany. As she failed to arrange for the funds, he used to beat and humiliate her.
The teacher also alleged that Girish was a divorcee and he had concealed this from her at the time of their marriage. She further alleged that parents of Girish sided with him on all the domestic issues and harassed her.
On August, 2, 2012, the complainant alleged that she was forced to leave the house by her husband, following which she came to her maternal place. On October 5, 2012, she lodged a complaint against the petitioners with police station at Nigdi in Pune narrating the ill-treatment and harassment meted out to her by her in-laws.
