Dowry accused denied bail

CHANDIGARH, Sept 29: UT Additional District and Sessions Judge S.S. Lamba here declined anticipatory bail applications filed by four dowr...

CHANDIGARH, Sept 29: UT Additional District and Sessions Judge S.S. Lamba here declined anticipatory bail applications filed by four dowry accused including the husband and in-laws of the complainant.

In her complaint against six people, the complainant, Komal Mahajan had stated in the FIR, the complainant8217;s husband Sandeep Gupta, in-laws C.R. Gupta and Vimla Gupta, sisters-in-law Ritu Gupta and Simmy Bansal and brother-in-law Pawan Bansal started harassing her for dowry.

It was alleged that she was beaten and the accused demanded a car and cash from her. The accused also proclaimed that Sandeep used to claim that he could have got Rs 50 lakh as dowry had he married someone else. The bail application filed here by all the six accused mentioned that the complainant and her husband had started living separately and that all household articles, jewellry and clothes were in the possession of the couple and that Komal took away her clothing and jewellry when she left home on November 3, 1998.

The investigating officer was also required by the court to talk to neighbours. One of the neighbours, Vinay Kumar Sharma stated that the complainant was harassed by her in-laws and husband. The judge further observed that no affidavit of any of the neighbours was given by the applicants to the effect that the said allegations were false.

Consequently, though the judge allowed anticipatory bail applications of Pawan Bansal and Simmy Bansal after they furnished bail bonds in the sum of Rs 10,000 each along with a surety in the like amount, he declined the pleas of rest of the accused.

A Nepali national, Parsaram, residing at Mohali, was today awarded life sentence by UT District and Sessions Judge B.S. Bedi for having been found guilty of having murdered his uncle, Man Bahadur.

While the city court had convicted the accused on September 17, the order on quantum of sentence was passed here today.

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The accused was booked here by the city police on May 9, 1995, under Section 302 of IPC. He was later charge sheeted on September 20, 1995, by the then District and Sessions Judge Amar Dutt who charged him with the murder of Man Bahadur on the intervening night of May 8 and 9, 1995, at about 11 p.m.

Later the trial proceeded and a list of 23 witnesses was put up. The accused murdered his uncle on account of some dispute regarding a khoka where the accused was selling meat. Earlier, Man Bahadur was in possession of that khoka but his business was not running very smoothly. So he handed over the shop to Parsaram who managed profits out of it. The dispute arose when Man Bahadur asked the accused to hand over possession of the khokha back to him.