The Bombay High Court recently refused pre-arrest bail to three of the 16 accused from an Uttar Pradesh-based family, booked for allegedly administering a ‘harmful drug’ to a newlywed daughter-in-law and then raping her, among other charges.
A single-judge bench of Justice Sarang V Kotwal, on February 8, passed the order on anticipatory bail pleas of the woman’s father-in-law, along with his two sons, who were booked by police on June 6, 2020.
The victim woman, in her FIR, had stated that after her marriage in 2019, her husband refused to have any physical relation with her and that is when she came to know that he was being treated for impotency. The complainant said the demand for dowry continued even after her marriage and on January 22, 2020, her father-in-law, husband and brother-in-law entered her room and overpowered her.
It is alleged that the father-in-law, who is also a medical practitioner, gave her some injection against her will, while his two sons held her down, after which the father-in-law raped her.
According to the woman, she was sent to her parental home later that month and her parents were told that unless dowry demands were met, she would not be taken back to her matrimonial house.
Subsequently, she came to Mumbai in March 2020 and informed her sister about the ordeal she had to endure, which led to the lodging of the FIR in June 2020.
After hearing submissions, Justice Kotwal observed, “At this stage, it is not possible to observe that the informant’s allegations are false, just because the FIR is lodged after some delay. In such cases, delay in lodging the FIR can be explained by the victim. But that has to be considered at the time of trial. This is the stage of anticipatory bail. Gravity of the offence cannot be overlooked.”
