PENUGONDA SREENIVASA REDDY Vs. PENUGONDA PRAMEELA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Criminal Revision Case No. 983 of 2002 is filed, by Accused 1 to 3 in C.C.No. 24 of 2001 before the Judicial Magistrate of I Class, Kurnool, against the order of the I Additional District and Sessions Judge, Kurnool in Crl.RP.No.25 of 2001 dated 01-07-2002, to the extent the learned Sessions Judge took the case on file against A-1 to A-3 for the offence punishable under Section 3(1)(x) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989.

(2.) Criminal Petition No. 107 of 2003 is filed by Smt. Penugonda Prameela, the complainant in C.C.No.24 of 2001, against the order of the I Additional District and Sessions Judge, Kurnool in Crl.R,P.No.25 of 2001 to the extent the learned Sessions Judge held that there was no material to take the case on file, against A-4 to A-9, for the offence under Section 494 IPC and under Section 3(1)(x) of the Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

(3.) Parties shall hereinafter be referred to as they are arrayed in Criminal Petition No. 107 of 2003. In her complaint filed in C.C. No. 24 of 2001, for offences under Section 494 and 498-A IPC, Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act and Section 3(1)(x) and (xii) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, the petitioner herein alleged that she is a member of the Scheduled Caste and a graduate in Nursing, that she was living at her parents' house in Kurnool and was working as a tutor at the Adarsha Nursing Home, Kurnool. It is alleged that accused No.1 was running a telephone booth and belonged to the forward community. The complainant and the 1st accused are alleged to have fallen in love and the 1st accused to have written a letter to the complainant expressing his love for her and his preparedness to marry her. It is alleged that they got married on 24-04-1997 as per Hindu rites at Manthralayam. The marriage was consummated and the complainant and the accused lived together, as wife and husband at house bearing No.41 A of Lecturers colony, Kurnool. It is alleged that the marriage, of the 1 st accused with the complainant, could not be digested by the parents of the 1 st accused i.e., the 2nd and 3rd accused. The complainant would allege that accused Nos.2 and 3 demanded dowry from her and her parents, as a result of which her parents gave ten tolas of Gold, a Yamaha Motor Cycle worth Rs.40,000/- and cash of Rs.2,00,000/- as dowry. According to the complainant she gave birth to a male child through the 1st accused in March 1998. She would allege that her married life and delivery hampered her chances of employment, which was to the disappointment of the 2nd and 3rd respondents herein (accused 2 and 3). Added to it, the caste factor also haunted them again when alliances came for the accused for a second marriage. Accused 1 to 4 are alleged to have started harassing the complainant physically and mentally. The accused are said to have ill-treated and abused her on caste lines and in a filthy language. The complainant would allege thatthe harassment meted out to her by the 1st accused was noticed by their neighbours and that the panchayat elders had advised the accused not to harass the complainant. Accused No. 1 to 3 are alleged to have pressurized the complainant to give her consent to the second marriage of the first accused and to have impressed upon her that, even after the second marriage, they would look after her well. The 1st accused is said to have married the 4th accused on 27-08-1999, to have kept the minor son of the complainant elsewhere and to have thereby secured her presence at the venue of the second marriage. It is alleged that the complainant, under mixed feelings of threat, sorrow and tension had attended the Kalyana Mandapam having no knowledge about the preparations for the second marriage, that the second marriage of the 1st accused was performed with the 4th accused in the presence of the complainant, that accused No.5 to 9, who are relatives of the 4th accused, performed the second marriage with the knowledge as to the subsistence of the first marriage between the 1st accused and the complainant. According to the complainant, after the second marriage, she was necked out of the house of the 1st accused and thereafter the complainant is said to have started living at her parents house at Kurnool. According to her, on one occasion, accused Nos. 1 to 9 trespassed into her house and ransacked the place for the sake of photographs and other documents relating to the marriage and to have threatened that they would kill her if she gave a complaint to the police. The accused are alleged to have challenged the complainant uttering the following words: