Bombay High Court evicts son from parents’ Pune flat, says their right comes first

The Allahabad High Court has criticized Indian parents who repeatedly allow their daughters to return to abusive matrimonial homes despite evidence of dowry harassment and threats of their lives. Justice Manish Mathur noted that such parents can be deemed "abettors of the in-laws" for the brides who suffer harm or death due to dowry demands. The court observed that it is a widespread issue in India for parents to view their daughters as burdens and abandon their care after marriage, without concern for their well-being.

The court's remarks came while partially granting an appeal in a 27-year-old dowry death case, maintaining the conviction of the victim's two in-laws and overturning her husband's conviction for dowry death. The case involved the victim's fatal burn injuries incurred within two years of her marriage. Prosecutors alleged that the family demanded buffaloes, a television, and a bicycle as dowry and subjected her to harassment once the demands were unmet.

The victim allegedly died by burning in 1999, with the trial court convicting her husband and two in-laws under IPC Sections 498-A (cruelty), 304-B (dowry death), and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act.

The court found that the 304-B IPC aspect was satisfied as the death occurred within two years of marriage and resulted from an unnatural cause, i.e., burning. It also confirmed that the aspect of dowry harassment was substantiated by the trial court's acceptance of the victim's dying declaration, which stated that her mother-in-law and sister-in-law set fire to her after tying her hands and feet.

However, the court ruled that the prosecution did not prove the husband's involvement in setting his wife on fire. Instead, evidence showed that the husband tried to extinguish the fire by throwing water on her and took her for medical treatment. The court thus overturned the husband's conviction under Section 304-B IPC while upholding the convictions and sentences of the two women.

All three appellants were ordered to appear in court within three weeks to serve their sentences. The court expressed regret over the conduct of the victim's parents, who continued to send her back to the abusive matrimonial home despite her pleas of fear for her life.