New Delhi: A Delhi court has sentenced a man to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment for dowry death, holding that the prosecution had successfully established all essential ingredients of Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and discharged the “initial onus” required to raise the statutory presumption against the accused. Additional sessions judge Shunali Gupta observed that two incidents of beating inflicted on the deceased in 2024 were “proximate to the time of her death” and formed part of a continuing pattern of cruelty linked to dowry demands. The court said the prosecution had placed “clear, cogent and reliable evidence” on record to show that the deceased, Jyoti, was subjected to harassment for dowry, which ultimately drove her to take her life. Along with seven years’ imprisonment for the offence of dowry death, the court also sentenced the convict, Sachin, and his parents to 15 months’ simple imprisonment each under Section 498A IPC for subjecting Jyoti to cruelty. A fine of Rs 5,000 each was imposed. Jyoti, who married Sachin in 2018, was found hanging at her matrimonial home in Shanti Colony, south Delhi, on Jan 19, 2024. The post-mortem examination concluded that she had died due to “asphyxia as a result of ante-mortem hanging”. During cross-examination, Jyoti’s mother and brother testified that the bride’s family had given household items, Rs 1 lakh, a gold chain and a gold ring during the marriage. However, two years later, Jyoti was allegedly harassed for bringing “less dowry” and subjected to physical and mental cruelty over fresh demands of Rs 5 lakh. On Jan 1, 2024, Jyoti was allegedly driven out of her matrimonial home and stayed with her parents for more than two weeks. On Jan 18, while she was being taken back to her in-laws’ house, Sachin allegedly assaulted her again. Hours before her death, Jyoti reportedly called her mother and complained of further physical assault. She was found hanging later that day. The court noted that the allegations were consistent and withstood cross-examination, and that there was “clean corroboration” among the testimonies of the three key prosecution witnesses. It held that Sachin attracted the statutory presumption under Section 113B of the Indian Evidence Act, which relates to dowry death. However, it found insufficient evidence to attribute a role in the “immediate” cruelty before Jyoti’s death to Sachin’s parents and confined their conviction to Section 498A.Rejecting the defence claim that family members were “interested witnesses”, the court said dowry-related crimes usually occur within the confines of matrimonial homes, making independent witnesses unlikely.
