Any willful conduct on a woman to cause her injury or to instigate her to commit suicide. Many fake cases have been filed in misusing of the provision for its own motive or in order to give torture to the husband’s family. The learned counsel of the appellant argued that the mere desire to acquire a refrigerator, scooter etc. The question before the Court must be whether the accused has committed the dowry death of a woman. https://t.me/joinchat/J_0YrBa4IBSHdpuTfQO_sA. The relatives concerned, including husband, become liable. Harassing a woman or any of her relative in order to make them fulfil their unlawful demands. Classification of Offence the offence u/s 304-B is (1) Where the death of a woman is caused by any burns or bodily injury or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances within seven years of her marriage and it is shown that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or har­assment by her husband or any relative of her husband for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry, such death shall be called “dowry death”, and such husband … 3,000, failing to pay the fine will attract simple imprisonment for 1 month. The FSL report categorically rules out the presence of any poison. Dowry death as an offence was inserted in the IPC as Section 304-B by the Dowry Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 1986. Therefore, dowry death is recognized to be one of the crimes committed against women. Since time immemorial we have seen so many offences against women, where they are tortured and one such offence is dowry death. Posted in: Family Law. of the Indian Penal Code defines cruelty. The Court after examining all the evidences, it was held that persons who are charged under Section 304-B, 306 and 498-A will be free from these criminal charges as the prosecution failed to produce the evidence against them and only mother-in-law will be held guilty under Section 324 of the Indian Penal Code as voluntarily causing hurt to her daughter-in-law. but which may extend to imprisonment for life. The Court also noted that there was an alternate cause of death suggested by the doctors as Tuberculosis. at or before or any time after the marriage in connection with the marriage of the said parties. rigorous imprisonment and Rs 200 fine in default more 3 months to his imprisonment will be added. Death should be caused by burns or bodily injury or by any other circumstances. Earlier people had a preconceived notion that giving dowry will build up a good reputation in the society. She did not fulfil the demands and was subjected to face torture and harassment by the appellants like commenting on her that she looks ugly etc. And under 306 IPC was sentenced to 4 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 200 and in default of the payment 3 months will be added to his imprisonment and also held him guilty under Section 498A sentenced him for 2 years rigorous imprisonment and Rs 200 fine in default more 3 months to his imprisonment will be added. , a third-year student of (BBA.LL.B) Ramaiah Institute of Legal Studies, Bangalore. Provisions under section 304B are: Section 304B of Indian Penal Code. It has noted that the offence of dowry death under Section 304B of the IPC cannot be made out if the cause of death has not been established as unnatural. This article is written by Kashish Kundlani, a third-year student of (BBA.LL.B) Ramaiah Institute of Legal Studies, Bangalore. The accused were not found in possession of poison. No traces of poison were found in the body of the deceased or in the crime scene. The trial court had acquitted them holding that the offence of dowry death was not proved. The court also held him guilty under Section 498A subjecting her to cruelty or harassment by passing comments on her looks and also taunting her to bring more dowry. The provision is given wider scope as to cover all deaths of wives who are dead within seven years of marriage, the presumption of offence provides this scope. Interestingly no such period is specified in S 498A. Even if the girl complains to her parents about the torture she faces by the husband’s family the parents of the girl opt to compromise instead of bringing it to the light. They should not use a restrictive approach in the matter relating to dowry. The prosecutor filed a case for torturing the deceased and subjected her to cruelty in order to make her bring more dowry. This means that if all the essentials ingredients of section 304-B of IPC has been fulfilled then a presumption can be raised of dowry death under section 113B of Indian Evidence Act,1872 that the accused has caused the dowry death. The Supreme Court held that this allegation was not proved on account of the following circumstances : In this connection, the Court referred to the circumstances necessary to prove death by poisoning, as laid down in Sharad Birdhichand Sarda v. State of Maharashtra and Anant Chintamun Lagu v State of Bombay: (1) there is a clear motive for an accused to administer poison to the deceased. In the name of tradition which has to be followed by the bride’s family give valuables to the groom’s family. Ingredients of the offence under Section 304B IPC. In order to prohibit the repeated occurrences of this crime, the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and Section 304B, Section 498A under Indian Penal Code, 1860 were introduced.Following is the synopsis of the provisions for dowry death under IPC: Section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act,1961, says that dowry is any property or valuable security directly or indirectly agreed to be given by-, by one party to a marriage to the other party to the marriage; or. You can click on this link and join: © Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved. The judgment authored by Justice K M Joseph explained the ingredients of the offence under Section 304B IPC as follows : "The ingredients of the offence are well-settled. of the Indian Evidence Act,1872 states the presumption as to dowry death. On August 9, 2020, they brutally beaten the deceased on account of non-fulfilment of demand of dowry resulting into injury around her neck. Is Dowry death a bailable and a cognizable offence? As per Section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act,1961 which says that dowry is any property or valuable security directly or indirectly agreed to be given by-, (a) by one party to a marriage to the other party to the marriage; or. The provisions are – In court, it was argued by the learned counsel of the appellant that there is no offence committed here as it does not fulfil the essential ingredients of Section 304B of Indian Penal Code and also no evidence was found out that soon before her death the deceased in any way was subjected to cruelty or harassment in connection with the demand for dowry. The respondent argued that he could not be charged with the offence of Section 304B as he is not the relative of the deceased. The Supreme Court in a recent judgment held that the offence of dowry death under Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code cannot be made out if the cause of death has not been established as unnatural. Practising in the name of a so-called tradition that is dowry is seen existing in every place in India whether rural or urban. LAWS RELATED TO DOWRY DEATH UNDER IPC, Dowry death has been defined under Section 304 B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The issue, in this case, is what preventive measures should be taken if a woman misuses this provision. Pawan Kumar & Ors vs State Of Haryana on 9 February 1998, And under 306 IPC was sentenced to 4 years of, imprisonment and a fine of Rs 200 and in default of the payment 3 months will be added to his imprisonment and also held him guilty under Section 498A sentenced him for 2 years. We must have seen people calling it a tradition or a custom to be followed in marriages taking place. All the sentences should run simultaneously. There was evidence of the victim undergoing treatment for Tuberculosis. Section 498A in its definition talks about relative and by this case, it has analysed the word ‘relative’ and it means a person who is a relative by blood, adoption or by marriage others will not fall under the category of relatives and cannot be held guilty under Section 304B but can be held guilty under other section if they have committed any other offence. Follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more amazing legal content. Subscribe to Live Law now and get unlimited access. "It is to be noted that PW1 has admitted that there was no demand for dowry before or at the time of marriage. She would expect to be a mother someday and then expect to be mother-in-law,grand-mother and so on. In this article, we’ll discuss the offences relating to dowry death and presumptions as to dowry death. The Court also held that it has to be shown that the deceased wife was subjected to cruelty or harassment in connection with demand for dowry soon before her death. In the case of Kaliyaperumal v. State of T.N.,four essentials were given based on which this section can be applied: 1. Urmil returned back to her parent’s house within a few days of her marriage and complained about the demands of dowry for refrigerator, scooter etc. Section 304B Dowry death— (1) Where the death of a woman is caused by any burns or bodily injury or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances within seven years of her marriage and it is shown that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or any relative of her husband for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry, such death shall be called ‘dowry death’, … Death must occur within the seven years of marriage. Punishment for dowry death is a minimum sentence of imprisonment for seven years or a maximum sentence of imprisonment for life. 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