New Delhi, A Delhi court has refused to discharge a man facing prosecution for allegedly subjecting his wife to dowry harassment and cruelty, saying that such offences are often committed within the four walls of a house and may not have eyewitnesses or CCTV camera footage.
Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh was hearing a revision petition filed by Sunil Sharma challenging an order directing framing of charges against him under the law relating to cruelty by husband or his relatives and the Dowry Prohibition Act.
In the order dated August 13, the court said, “As regards the contention that there is no medical evidence to support the claim of the complainant that she was beaten by her husband, I find that at the stage of framing of charges, the veracity of the statement of the complainant is not to be tested for corroboration with medical evidence or any other evidence.”
It also held that there was no requirement of CCTV camera footage to corroborate a victim’s statement. Sharma’s wife had alleged that soon after their marriage in December 2015, she was harassed by him and his family members. The judge noted that the complaint contained specific allegations and dates, including alleged beatings in December 2016 and September 2016, dowry-related harassment in September 2017 and an allegation that the husband and his family tried to burn her in March 2018.
Rejecting the argument about lack of eyewitnesses and CCTV footage, the court said offences under the cruelty provision are committed “within the four walls of a house” and, therefore, eyewitnesses are often unavailable.
The court said that at the stage of framing charges, it was only required to see whether the material on record disclosed a prima facie case and the veracity of the complainant’s allegations was not to be tested against medical or other corroborative evidence.
