‘Truth sits upon the lips’: Delhi High Court quotes Shakespeare, overturns acquittal in 36-year-old dowry death case

Justice Subramonium Prasad and Vimal Kumar Yadav observed that the parents of a daughter initially try to meet the dowry demand to make life easy and comfortable at her matrimonial home. (Image is enhanced using AI)

“It is a matter of common knowledge that truth sits upon the lips of a dying person and makes his/her last utterances worthy of credit,” the court observed in its February 6 order.

‘Matter confined to four walls and valves of heart’

The Delhi High Court made these key observations concerning the impact of dowry demands on the families of the daughter.

• When a newlywed daughter of someone is harassed by her husband and in-laws for dowry, the parents try to meet the dowry demand to make life easy and comfortable at her matrimonial home.
• The possibility of ruining the relations cannot be ruled out if the parents think of filing a complaint with the police.
• All efforts are made to soothe the emotions of the husband and in-laws to settle the newly-wedded daughter in her matrimonial home amicably.

• These types of situations are confined within the “four walls of the home and four valves of the heart” to avoid being ridiculed in society for a considerable amount of time.
• Initially, these situations are kept secret from the close family as well, and relatives are informed of any such things only when the situation goes out of control.

‘Anxious order of trial court’

The Delhi High Court noted the following discrepancies in the trial court’s acquittal order.

• The trial court’s observation that the neighbours were the best persons to question about harassment and cruelty is not maintainable since the wear and tear in the relations is out of bounds for the neighbourhood in the civic society of the metropolis city.
• The witnesses have pointed out that the accused persons were making dowry demands from the victim.
• The fact that the victim and her husband were dating each other before the marriage has no relevance to the present matter.
• The trial court concluded that the suicide note was recovered in December 1990, but it remained unexplained as to why the victim’s husband was not arrested on the date of recovery.
• The trial court has not scrutinised the evidence carefully and seems to have lost in the “tinsel of falsehood” brought by the different statements of the police officials concerned.

• The trial court was anxious because the investigating officer concerned had not gone through the diary containing the dying declaration carefully, leaving important details about her writing and the content of her last notes.
• The classmate of the victim and her father identified her writing in the last note.
• The writer of the dying note was a lady and not a gentleman.
• However, the trial judge, in haste, formed an opinion that this letter was written by the victim’s father, but all the factors suggest that it was not written by him.
• It was found that the dying note was authored by the victim herself only.

‘Constant nagging, health impact

The Delhi High Court examined the various aspects of the case. The key observations are the following:

• It came on record that soon after her marriage, the victim was taunted repeatedly for bringing insufficient dowry in marriage.
• In order to decide if the dowry demand and taunting can push a person to take an extreme step, many factors should be considered.
• The health of an individual is affected by several factors, including their circumstances and environment.
• The factors such as where the perosn live, the state of their environment, relations with friends and family have a considerable impact on our health.
• The determinants of health are the social and economic environment, the physical environment, and the person’s individual characteristics and behaviour.
• The victim was having a marital home which was in living “extreme poverty” and was nagged by her husband and sister-in-law for not bringing sufficient dowry.
• Nagging is a very disturbing activity for the one who is at the receiving end, and can develop a feeling of self-doubt, start feeling unworthy and not good enough because of what the person has been hearing about themselves.

‘Social creature, mental health’

The Delhi High Court significantly focused on the impact on the health of a person with constant nagging over dowry demands. The court made the following observations:

• Being a social creature, a person needs to be surrounded by people who can appreciate, motivate and respect.
• When these factors are missing in a relationship, especially with someone close, a person might start feeling low about themselves, leading to self-esteem-related issues spreading in different areas of life.
• The person nagged may feel frustrated, because it looks like a direct attack on them.
• Nagging damages relationships, undermines credibility, fosters resentment and trains the nervous system into a vicious cycle and may result in obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• The constant nagging about bringing insufficient dowry and dowry demands affected the mental health of the victim, suggesting that she was subjected to cruelty by her husband and her sister-in-law.

‘Court’s final verdict’

• The trial court opted not to go through the contents of vital documents and announced that they do not mention any mark of injury on the neck of the victim.
• There are proximate and close link between the dowry demands and the death of the victim.
• The state has proved that the victim was treated with cruelty in connection with dowry demands, soon before her death.
• The findings of the trial court are set aside.
• Harassment, suffered by the victim, as provided in her dying note, tells the “tale of her woe”, which “drove her to end her life”.
• The accused persons are sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of 10 years along with other concurrent sentences.

‘Trial court acquitted accused persons’

• The victim was married to her husband for about six-seven months when she was taken to the hospital in December 1990 and was declared dead.
• It was placed on record that a ligature mark around the victim’s neck was noted.
• The father of the victim lodged an FIR alleging dowry realted cruely death of her daughter.
• During the investigation, a note was found in a dairy which was written by the victim before her death from her matrimonial home.
• Subsequently, a chargesheet was filed against the husband and the sister-in-law of the victim.
• During the trial, 17 witnesses were rexamined and it was claimed that the note before death was not in the handwriting of the victim.
• The accused person claimed the character of the victim was questionable, stating that she used to stroll with various persons despite being objected to by her husband.
• In 1998, the trial court acquitted the accused person of all charges.