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Doctor denied bail and found guilty of cruel treatment of wife and demanding money within seven months of their marriage by the Kerala High Court in the case of Sijo Rajan R v. State of Kerala (Bail Appl. No. 3750 of 2021) through Justice Shircy V.

FACTS OF THE CASE

In the present case, the applicant went to the court to request pre-arrest bail because they anticipated being arrested for crimes covered by Sections 294(b), 341, 323, 324, 325, and 498(A) r/w 34.

The applicant and the de facto complainant were married according to the case’s circumstances. The complainant claimed that although her parents had given her gold jewellery, a car, money, and land, she had also been tortured physically and mentally since the applicants kept wanting more money.

JUDGMENT

Following up on the complainant’s medical records as well as those of her father and brother, the Court declared that all of these records would demonstrate that the applicants had physically assaulted them and caused serious injuries. The Court noted that the allegations made against the applicants were serious and grave in character and that the complainant, who was also a young doctor, had been mistreated by them within seven months of her marriage.

The Court opined that in our country, harassment, abuse, and physical and mental torture of married women are on the rise as a result of pressure to increase the wealth of the bridegroom’s family in order to better their financial status. Even if there are several lawsuits against husbands and changes to the law, society’s perception of married women and their families has not changed.

The Court said that granting anticipatory bail to such wrongdoers would send the “wrong message” to society. The Court decided that the applicant’s brother and parents did not merit the requested pre-arrest bail in view of the aforementioned factors and the fact that it appears from the evidence that they conspired with the applicant to perpetrate the alleged crimes. As a result, the bail application was denied, but the petitioners were free to appear in person before the relevant magistrate and request ordinary bail.

Accordingly, the doctor was denied bail by the Court and was found guilty of cruel treatment of wife and demanding money within seven months of their marriage. The Court stated that despite strict legislation, the frequency of attacks against married women in our nation is disturbing and that the attacks must end permanently. It called matrimonial houses “the most dangerous place to live” owing to harassment, abuse, and torture.

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JUDGEMENT REVIEWED BY NISHTHA GARHWAL

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