The Gujarat High Court has refused to quash a dowry death case against the parents-in-law of the deceased woman after noting that she was subjected to cruelty as defined in 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the whatsapp messages prima facie suggested that there was continuous harassment by all accused, including the applicants.

The High Court was considering an application filed for the quashing of an FIR registered under Sections 108, 80, 54 of BNS, 2023 and sections 3 and 7 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 against five accused including the applicants (father-in-law and the mother-in-law of the deceased).

The Single Bench of Justice M. K. Thakker held, “In addition to that, the presumption under section 113A of the Evidence Act may also be available as the married women committed suicide within 7 months of the marriage, as prima facie material suggest that the applicants who are relatives of the husband, though staying at different place, has subjected her to cruelty as defined in 498A of IPC. It is submitted by learned advocate Mr. A.S.Timbalia that there is no proximity link between the act of the applicants and commission of suicide however, the Whatsapp message as referred above prima facie suggests that there was continuous harassment by all accused, including the applicant who immediately after the marriage conveyed to the complainant that ‘afsar ladka hai wo pehle dekhna chahiye, ab kharcha to hoga aur dahej to dena padega’. On the demand of the applicant, the complainant paid amount of Rs.5,00,000/- twice and despite the same the harassment remained to continue and the level of harassment went above and beyond the tolerance of deceased due to which she put an end to her life.”

Advocate A S Timbalia represented the Applicant while Additional Public Prosecutor Monali Bhatt represented the Respondent.

Factual Background

The deceased daughter of the complainant was serving in IDBI Bank and prior to marriage she was staying at Vadodara on rented premises, where she continued to stay after marriage. The husband was transferred from Bangalore to Pune 5 months prior to the date of FIR, and he used to go to Vadodara frequently. As per the allegations in the FIR, after 15 to 20 days from the date of marriage, the applicants started torturing the deceased on the ground that their son was serving in a government office, and if his marriage was solemnized with someone else, he would have received a BMW car. The parents of the deceased were allegedly called by the applicants and demanded dowry, which was satisfied to the extent of Rs 5 lakh immediately on the solemnization of marriage.

It was alleged that they thereafter continued to make demands and the husband of the deceased also used to send the photographs of different girls on her mobile, which was informed by the deceased to her father (complainant). The husband of the deceased had allegedly asked the deceased to make her father stand as a guarantor to obtain a loan of Rs 50 lakh, which was refused by the deceased. On the fateful day of the incident, she put an end to her life by hanging herself on the ceiling fan. The father of the newly wedded girl lodged the FIR. On completion of the charge-sheet as well as after the order of committal, the application came to be filed by the applicants for the quashment of the impugned proceedings.

Reasoning

On a perusal of the facts of the case, the Bench noted that the deceased committed suicide within a period of 7 months from the date of her marriage. “The demands of the in-laws was with regard to additional dowry on the ground that their son is a government officer. It may be the case where exercise of power would require wherein the in-laws were falsely implicated however, that cannot be accepted as a general proposition of law. The deceased was subjected to mental and physical harassment at the ends of the in-laws including the applicant”, it held.

The Bench further noted that as per the statement of the housemaid, who was serving the deceased even before her marriage, the husband had caught hold of the neck of the deceased and, immediately on seeing the housemaid, he left the place and called the deceased. According to the maid, when the husband came to the house, he used to shout at the deceased with regard to dowry. As per the statement, the deceased herself had disclosed to the housemaid that her in-laws were asking for accounts of her salary and were demanding money frequently.

“Undoubtedly, the material collected suggest that the deceased was mentally harassed by the accused including the applicants, on the ground of bringing insufficient dowry. There is a concrete and precise allegation against the present applicants and same is supported by the material collected during the Investigation”, it added.

Reference was made to the post-mortem report wherein it was mentioned that in addition to the injury of ligature mark, there was red linear abrasion suggesting that there might have been physical assault on the deceased. “In addition to that, there are messages which is sent to the brother and parents of the deceased suggesting that there was continuous harassment to the deceased by the applicant”, the Bench mentioned.

Thus, finding no reason to exercise the inherent power to quash the proceedings initiated against the applicants, the Bench rejected the application.

Cause Title: Rameshkumar S/O Ishwarsinh Jat v. State of Gujarat & Anr. (Neutral Citation: 2026:GUJHC:42808)

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