New Delhi: In a case of alleged dowry death involving a Christian couple, the Delhi High Court has denied bail to the spouse of the victim while noting that the aspect of the deceased suffering from depression cannot be considered enough to hold that she had killed herself due to her mental illness and not because of "the alleged maltreatment and cruelty meted out to her by the applicant for dowry demands".
A single-judge bench of Justice Anu Malhotra, while dismissing the bail plea of the accused, one Rajesh Lal, observed that the complainant, the deceased's father, had allegedly stated that Lal had called up his daughter and when she told him that she was coming back to his house, the accused purportedly said that if she came near him then he would stab her with a knife and that these were "aspects which cannot be overlooked".
The bench further noted that the relation between the deceased's family and the accused were very strained and even the neighbours of the deceased also indicate allegedly that the deceased was not happy with the relations with the accused and his family members "who used to harass her for dowry demands and beat her for the same".
As per case records, the victim, identified as one Macklina, had allegedly hanged herself to death at her paternal house on February 28 last year after reportedly being harassed on account of dowry from her in-laws, including her husband, mother-in-law, sister-in-law and the husband's cousin sister, all of whom have been named in an FIR lodged by the deceased's father. While the rest have been granted interim protection by courts, Lal remains incarcerated.
The FIR alleged that the accused along with his family, used to harass her over dowry right after her marriage in 2019 despite giving Rs. 5 lakhs and spending around Rs. 25 lakhs in the marriage.
Her father, Jerome George, also alleged that her in-laws used to beat her up regularly and that Lal had even threatened Macklina that he would stab her if she returned back to his house.
In his defence, the accused had told the court that his wife was suffering from a mental disorder called Somniloquy which is a sleep talking illness. He alleged that he wasn't made aware about her illness before their marriage and that she always behaved abnormally with his relatives and family, skipping all family functions and rituals due to the stigma.
During the course of their marriage, the deceased had been frequenting between her paternal and in-laws' home on account of receiving treatment for her mental illness and it was during her stay there that she allegedly hanged herself to death.
Lal alleged that the allegations against him and his family in the FIR are vague and there is no corroboration between the facts of the case and the evidence on record. He submitted that the fact that his wife died of her mental illness cannot be ruled out and her in-laws had lodged a complaint against him only because he once took her to a hospital for treatment against their wishes.