Court Acquits Man in Dowry Death Case Due to Lack of Evidence

A man accused of dowry death and cruelty has been acquitted by a court, which ruled that the prosecution failed to substantiate the allegations

The case, heard by Additional Sessions Judge Geetanjali, involved Govinda, who had been charged by the Pul Prahaladpur police station over a decade ago.

The prosecution alleged that Govinda married Maya in 2010, and she died under suspicious circumstances on August 30, 2014. However, the court recently concluded that the testimonies provided by Maya’s family and relatives did not indicate any specific dowry demands or instances of cruelty by Govinda related to dowry.

“The allegations against the accused lack specificity regarding the nature of the cruelty. The prosecution claimed that the deceased was harassed for not fulfilling dowry demands, but no witness provided concrete details on when and how the accused allegedly harassed the deceased,” the court noted.

Furthermore, the medico-legal case (MLC) report revealed no external injuries, and the postmortem indicated that Maya’s death was due to postpartum septic shock, not violence. The court concluded that the essential elements of the charges were not proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

“I find that the prosecution has failed to establish that the deceased was subjected to harassment and cruelty related to dowry demands shortly before her death by the accused,” the judge stated, resulting in Govinda’s acquittal.

(With inputs from agency)