A Delhi court has sentenced a man to three years in jail for subjecting his wife to cruelty to coerce her to meet his dowry demands, which forced her to commit suicide within one-and-a-half year of their marriage.
Additional Sessions Judge Deepak Garg convicted 30-year-old Pradeep under section 498 A (husband or his relative subjecting wife to cruelty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on him.
"It is proved that Renu (wife) was being subjected to cruelty in her matrimonial house and she was harassed with a view to coerce her and her parents to meet the said unlawful demand of money... and hence accused Pradeep is convicted for the offence under section 498 A IPC," the court said.
The court, however, acquitted Pradeep for the offence of dowry death. It also acquitted Renu's mother-in-law of all charges.
It said the fine deposited by the convict shall be treated as compensation for the victim's parents.
According to the prosecution, Renu and Pradeep got married in 2014 and the victim's in-laws did not demand any dowry at the time of the wedding.
After two months, her in-laws started demanding money on the pretext that they had come under debt due to the expenses incurred for the wedding, it said.
Renu's mother alleged that she had given Rs 50,000, Rs 40,000 and Rs 10,000 to Pradeep on different occasions. She had told the court that her daughter was beaten and harassed to coerce her to meet their growing demands for money.
In 2016, Renu committed suicide by hanging herself at her matrimonial house.
An FIR was registered against Pradeep, a resident of Budh Vihar in North West Delhi, and his mother for harassing a woman, dowry death and doing acts with a common intention.
In 2017, the trial court framed charges against the two accused, who had pleaded not guilty.
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