STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: A local Court of Jammu acquitted a man and his family members in dowry death case as prosecution miserably failed to prove its case.
The Court acquitted Surjeet Singh, son of Gulab Singh; Kamlesh Kour, wife of Surjeet Singh; Harbans Singh, son of Surjeet Singh and Manjeet Kour alias Soni, daughter of Surjeet Singh, all residents of village Godan Bala, Tehsil Akhnoor, District Jammu.
According to the police case, inquest proceedings under Section 174 CrPC were initiated on the basis of Daily Diary Report No 23, dated 9th March, 2009 based on a telephonic information that one Manjeet Kour, wife of Harbans Singh, resident of Village Godan Bala, Tehsil Akhnoor, who had been admitted in Military Hospital Satwari due to burn injuries had succumbed to her injuries and in view of the death of the deceased in suspicious circumstances and in the meanwhile on 10th March, 2009, a written complaint was lodged by one Kuldeep Singh, son of Lachhman Singh, resident of Jadh, Tehsil Akhnoor alleging therein that his daughter Manjeet Kour had been married to one Harbans Singh, son of Surjeet Singh, resident of Godan Bala on 12th November, 2003 ; that due to dowry demands and cruelty she had set herself ablaze in the evening on 8th March, 2009 by sprinkling kerosene oil on herself and she had received 100 per cent burns and that her in-laws without informing the parental family or the police had taken her to Army Hospital Akhnoor wherefrom she was referred to Army Hospital Satwari. However, before arrival of police, the deceased had succumbed to her injuries and that the deceased had taken this extreme step due to cruelty by in-laws. Police registered a case vide FIR No. 48 of 2009 for the commission of offences under Sections 306 and 498-A RPC and after investigation of the case, the instant charge-sheet was laid for the commission of offences punishable under aforesaid Sections.
Court after hearing both the sides observed that Prosecution has neither succeeded to prove the cruelty meted out the deceased, punishable under section 498-A RPC, nor abetment to commit suicide, punishable under section 306 RPC .
