Some brides are ‘villains’, not victims: lawyers- The Times of India POWERED BY THE TIMES OF INDIA CITIES: KOLKATA TIMESCITY.COM Search The Times of India Indiatimes Web Indiatimes > The Times of India > Cities > Kolkata > Article Home KOLKATA CLASSIFIEDS Some brides are ‘villains’, not HEADLINES Matrimonial| Jobs New Town's biggest Real Estate| Auto victims: lawyers project unveiled Tenders RAHUL Taj : It's history of Post Print Ads [ WEDNESDAY, MAY 01, 2002 12:32:02 AM ] translation All Classifieds Surf 'N' Earn - Sign in now Moral police on ISIs' HOT LINKS campus ePaper KOLKATA: City lawyers claim to be surprised at the spate of ‘patently NRI Finance unfair’ cases alleging cruelty to the bride under section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, which is a cognizable and non-bailable offence offence NEWS meaning that the police can arrest without warrants and bails can be Politics obtained only from a law court and not the police station. Cities Ahmedabad They are also surprised to come across many cases which, they feel, are Bangalore brazenly fabricated and amount to a gross abuse of a legal provision. Chandigarh Delhi Once a woman lodges a complaint, the arrest of the husband is virtually Hyderabad routine. And if he happens to be a government servant or working in a Kolkata Lucknow public sector undertaking or bank, his suspension follows again as a Mumbai routine. Patna Pune In some cases lawyers have been appalled to find elderly relatives of the Thiru'puram husband and even visiting relatives of the husband implicated in the case. City Supplements India In some cases the husband and his family are virtually being blackmailed Cricket into coughing up money and reach an out-of-court settlement. Sports World In one of the cases the bride is said to have won the heart of her in-laws Entertainment so much that when her sister-in-law gets married, all the family jewellery India Business are put in her lockers. Intl Business Infotech She takes the jewellery, leaves the house and promptly lodges a Health/Science complaint against her husband. Photo Gallery TOI Headlines Inquiries revealed that she had an earlier affair and had left to live with her Most Read Articles love, recalls Ananda Basu, Advocate practising in the Calcutta High Court. Obituary Archives Eminent lawyer Bishnu Charan Ghosh says, “As a lawyer I have never Weather come across such gross abuse of any of the provisions of any Act as I am OPINION experiencing in 498A IPC cases”. Columnists Editorial He goes on to say, “I don’t mean to suggest that brides are always the Interview villains and not the victim. In a majority of the cases, in fact, the brides are Letters to Editor at the receiving end. But what is surprising is the large number of cases SUPPLEMENTS where the brides actually seem to be villainous”. Education Times SUNDAY SPECIALS Book Mark Asked about the ways to check abuse of section 498A, B.C. Culture curry All That Matters Ghosh and Gitanath Ganguly, the former suggests a threefold measure: (i) to convert section 498A into a bailable one, (ii) The Ld. court could http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/8498047.cms (1 of 2)7/25/2005 10:06:50 PM Some brides are ‘villains’, not victims: lawyers- The Times of India Life carefully consider whether the allegations of the bride are indeed genuine Mind Over Matter at least against the in-laws or other relations of her husband when it Open Space directs investigation under section 156(3) of CrPC for an offence under Special Report section 498A and, (iii) The Ld. court could carefully take into account NRI SERVICES Remit2India whether custodial detention is at all needed for the old in-laws and other Post Print Ads relations. PRINT EDITION Delhi Edition Ganguly suggests that on receiving a complaint under section 498A from DAILY DOSE a woman, police should immediately approach the Magistrate instead of Ninan's World arresting the accused. News Puzzle Crosswords He asserted that the police should collect the materials, place them before Astro Predictions the Magistrate and arrest people only with the permission of the Jokes Magistrate. He also suggests making the offence under this section a Newsletters bailable one. The lawyers also point out the irony that while women belonging to the poorer sections, for whom the section was primarily meant, are not even aware of the provision, the section is being merrily misused by a section of Sign in to win the urban women. great prizes Surf 'N' Earn - Sign in now RATE THIS ARTICLE 1 2 3 4 5 1=Poor,2=Mediocre,3=Average,4=Good,5=Outstanding COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE Its high time we should make proper changes in IP...- courageblue1 Read all comments TOP About Us | For reprint rights:Times Syndication Service Copyright © 2005 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. | Advertise with Us | Careers @ TIL | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Feedback | Sitemap http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/8498047.cms (2 of 2)7/25/2005 10:06:50 PM The Telegraph - Calcutta : Jamshedpur Today's Edition | Friday, January 06, 2006 | Advertise with us Front Page > Jamshedpur > Story IN TODAY'S PAPER Front Page Nation Calcutta Dowry death a suicide Bengal OUR CORRESPONDENT Opinion Jamshedpur, Jan. 5: The post-mortem report has revealed that the woman, who was found International hanging in her in-law’s house yesterday, had committed suicide and was not murdered, as was Business Stocks Live claimed by her family. Sports At Leisure The family members of the deceased, Ananti Devi (19), had alleged that her husband Ranjan Prasad, alias Dilip, and his family had murdered the woman. The wife of eight months was Sudoku New killed in a dowry-related incident, they claimed. WEEKLY FEATURES Knowhow But sources in the forensic science department of the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical Jobs College Hospital claimed there were no signs to suggest that the victim was forcibly hanged or even tortured. Careergraph Telekids The experts who performed the post-mortem have ruled out any possibility of the use of force in Etc hanging the deceased. Propertt Weekend “Investigation of the body clearly showed that the woman hung herself, contrary to the belief of Look her family members,” said one of the experts. CITY NEWSLINES The forensic experts, however, did not rule out that the woman could have been instigated to commit suicide. “This has to be investigated by the police,” they added. FEEDS The deceased’s family had insisted that Devi was murdered, police sources said, and so every care was taken to see if this could be true. RSS My Yahoo! Generally, a single expert does the post-mortem in case of a suicide. But in this case, two SEARCH doctors were appointed for this purpose and the process was recorded on video for future references. Officer-in-charge of Birsanagar police station said Dilip, his father Kali Sah and brother Raj Kumar — who arrested on the basis of the FIR lodged by Devi’s family — were forwarded to Archives Web judicial custody today. Bollywood Ringtones “A case of dowry torture has been registered against them. Police are investigating and if the Hey Ya! ARCHIVES husband and in-laws are innocent, it will become clear soon,” he added. Since 1st March, 1999 Bollywood Wallpapers THE TELEGRAPH - About Us - Advertise - Feedback - Contact Us Copyright © 2005 The Telegraph. All rights reserved. Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Contact Us http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060106/asp/jamshedpur/story_5687301.asp1/10/2006 12:17:19 AM The Statesman The first completely customisable news site on the web 130 years in print Search in The Statesman Web Monday, June 12 2006 Home | Classified | Jobs | Matrimonials | Archives | Advertise | Feedback | About Us News Page one ‘Dead’ woman returns alive India World Statesman News Service Editorial KENDRAPARA, June 11: Police had proclaimed Login Perspective the death of a woman. Then followed the arrest of people, accused of burning her alive. Now in an Business Username Sport ironic turnaround, the dead woman has come back alive, lending a new twist to the bride-burning Bengal Password case, reported in the Rajnagar police station area. Magazine The woman was allegedly killed by her spouse and Sports & Leisure in-laws during a dowry-related dispute. But the Career & Campus offence was never committed. New user? Sign-in Science & Technology Those who authored the sinister design of slapping Voices the dowry-death offence against the relatives, are now cooling their heels behind bars. Lifestyle This episode has triggered a public outcry at a Unplugged seaside village of Kendrapara district’s Rajnagar Kolkata Plus tehsil. Bengal Plus The unsavoury incident also brings into focus oft- Viewpoint raised allegations that complaints of dowry torture and harassment lack substance. North East Page “We had received a complaint that a newly- Orissa Plus wedwoman, Kuntala Mohanty, of Santhapada Note Book village was burnt alive by her spouse, Nakul and N.B & Sikkim Plus her father-in-law, Digambar Mohanty. The Entertainment complainant also claimed that they had cremated the remains of the deceased. NB Extra The crux of the complaint was that the bride met World Focus her end, as she failed to bring home the dowry as demanded by the accused,” police said. After preliminary investigation, the father-son duo was booked under Section 302, IPC and Section 4 (Dowry Prevention Act). “We should have exhumed the body. But we believed the heart-rending tale of the complainants, and went ahead and registered the http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=9&theme=&usrsess=1&id=119601 (1 of 3)6/11/2006 10:59:01 PM The Statesman case.