The Supreme Court of India has ruled that a person cannot be convicted for merely demanding dowry unless the demand is followed by mental or physical torture resulting in the death of the victim. The prosecution has to establish convincing evidence that the accused had subjected the victim to torture soon before her death in connection with the demand. "What is punishable under Section 498A or Section 304B of IPC is the act of cruelty or harassment by the husband or the relative of the husband against the woman," the Bench said.
This begs the question - Doesn't the demand for dowry constitute mental torture in itself? How can it not be considered an act of cruelty or harassment? Why do women need to die for culprits to be brought to book?
In another judgement, the Supreme Court held that "A husband and his relatives cannot be prosecuted for "cruelty" towards wife merely because the mother-in-law or other family members had kicked her or for that matter threatened her with divorce". Apparently "kicking may make out some other offence but not the one punishable under Section 498A".
We need judicial reforms and we need them as of yesterday!
1 comment:
Reforms... in India, who will do it. Because the formulators of law themselves have gone insane. The news is a everyday embarrassment of the nation now. Seriously we need a dramatic change in the leadership.
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