Hyderabad: Acquittal rates high in dowry cases

Hyderabad: A large number of dowry harassment cases are ending up in acquittal of the accused at the trial courts. Though the failure is attributed to the prosecution, legal experts and police officers say there are several factors contributing to the high rate of acquittal.

According to lawyers, the anger and emotions at the initial stages of a matrimonial dispute drives the families to lodge a complaint. As time goes by and elders and well-wishers intervene, many couples tend to calm down and strike a compromise.

Even when such a re-union occurs, the police case has to go on, said L K. Shindey, retired assistant police commissioner of the city.

Mr Shindey, who worked as ACP at the woman police station in CCS for more than two years, said that in cases where the couples compromise, some witnesses turn hostile and some depose evidence which contradict the facts and circumstances of the case.

“Police officers also make mistakes while collecting evidence. To prove dowry harassment, direct, circumstantial and physical evidence is very essential,’’ he said.

Direct evidence of dowry transactions can be secured by examining elders who were present at the time of marriage alliance while physical evidence can be secured by ascertaining whether the female victim had visited any hospital following torture by husband.

Probing whether the husband had either pledged or sold gold or silver ornaments of the wife and inquiring with neighbours about the couple could provide circumstantial evidence to prove torture and demand for additional dowry, Mr Shindey said.

He said that in cases registered under the Dowry Prohibition Act and under Section 498 (A) of IPC (dowry harassment), an officer of the rank of DCP has to accord sanction to prosecute the offenders.

Most times, the officers accord sanction without examining whether evidence has been properly collected or not. Mr Shindey said that the law has a provision to file an application before the trial court seeking closure of the case when an investigating officer comes to know that both parties have entered into a compromise. He said this will help in reducing the acquittal rate.

In many cases, though there are no written agreements, dowry agreements are made in the presence of family elders of the groom and the bride in the presence of the marriage broker.

If the police officer gets their statement recorded in front of the magistrate, it could be treated as circumstancial evidence to corroborate the offence.

Nampally criminal court advocate Momin Roshan Zameer said, “There is misconception among people with regard to the Dowry Prohibition Act and the provision of dowry harassment under the IPC. They think that if a case is filed against the husband, the court would grant some monetary compensation to the wife. But both legal provisions can be used to punish the husband only when charges are proved against him.”

Mr Zameer, who has filed more than a dozen cases of dowry harassment, said this misconception was one of the leading factors for acquittal. He said that 10 to 15 per cent cases of dowry harassment are genuine but in a majority of cases, the Dowry Prohibition Act and the dowry harassment provisions are used as tools  to pressurise a husband and his family for monetary benefit.

“Most of the cases we witness in the court are about the husband working aboard or in some other place with the wife living with the in-laws. At the initial stages, a dispute can be averted with counselling by family elders and well-wishers. Instead they are aggravating the dispute which results in the couple heading to court,” he said.