Chennai, Oct. 24:
The Madras High Court has held that an alleged extramarital relationship, by itself, would not constitute cruelty under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, while dismissing an appeal challenging the acquittal of a man in a case connected with his wife’s suicide.
Justice Sunder Mohan passed the order after examining the prosecution’s allegations and the evidence presented during the trial. The husband had faced charges under Sections 498A and 306 of the IPC in connection with allegations of cruelty and abetment of suicide.
According to the prosecution, the couple married in September 2008. The husband was accused of subjecting his wife to cruelty over dowry demands, maintaining an illicit relationship with another woman and failing to take proper care of his wife and child. The woman allegedly died by jumping into a body of water along with their one-and-a-half-year-old child.
The trial court acquitted the husband, holding that the prosecution had failed to establish the alleged dowry demand or prove that cruelty by the husband had driven the woman to suicide. The woman’s brother subsequently challenged the acquittal before the High Court, arguing that the trial court had overlooked the evidence given by his mother and other witnesses.
Examining the evidence, the High Court noted that the witnesses had referred to an alleged dowry demand, but their statements lacked specific details. The court also observed that the complaint lodged by the woman’s brother when she went missing referred to the husband’s alleged relationship with another woman but did not mention any dowry demand.
The prosecution had sought to explain the omission by stating that the woman had asked her mother not to disclose the alleged dowry demand to her father or brother. The court found this explanation unconvincing, noting that the allegation should have been mentioned in the initial complaint if such a demand had been made.
The judge also disagreed with the trial court’s reasoning that the alleged extramarital relationship had not been proved because the woman concerned had not been examined. However, the High Court clarified that even an established extramarital relationship would not, by itself, amount to cruelty under Section 498A.
The court ultimately concluded that the prosecution had failed to establish its case and dismissed the criminal appeal, though it disagreed with some of the trial court’s reasoning. The ruling highlights the need to assess the specific evidence and legal ingredients of the alleged offences rather than treating an extramarital relationship alone as sufficient proof of criminal cruelty.