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The Bombay High Court's Aurangabad bench overturned a 20-year-old conviction against a man and his family for alleged 'cruelty' towards his late wife.
As per the original complaint in the case, the wife, when alive, faced taunts from her in-laws that led to her suicide. They also imposed restrictions on her personal freedoms — from not being allowed to watch TV, to not being permitted to visit temple or the neighbours' homes alone. She was also made to sleep on the carpet and required to throw out the family's garbage on her own.
But the court deemed that all this did not amount to “severe” actions under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
A Live Law report quoted the High Court saying that the case "did not rise to the level of physical or mental cruelty." The bench acquitted the man, his parents, and his brother, who had been convicted by a lower court under IPC Sections 498A and 306 for cruelty and abetment to suicide. The Bombay HC's decision followed an appeal by the accused in the case against the trial court’s conviction.
Family members of the deceased also alleged that she was forced to fetch water at midnight.
The court, however, referenced witness testimonies that revealed that water was usually supplied around midnight, and it was customary for all households to collect water at around 1:30 am in Varangaon, the village where her in-laws lived.
The Bombay High Court overturned the 20-year-old conviction for cruelty and abetment to suicide of the dead wife.