SIMANTINI SAMANTARAY Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) I have heard the counsel for the petitioner, counsel for the informant and the Public Prosecutor appearing for the State and perused the case diary and other documents.

(2.) The petitioner is a young, unmarried girl aged about 20 years. Apprehending arrest in connection with Chandanpur P.F. Case No. 105 of 1997 registered under Section 498-A/304-B/34, Indian Penal Code, and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, the application under Section 438, Code of Criminal Procedure, has been filed.

(3.) The deceased was married to the brother of the present petitioner in the month of May, 1997. The accused persons as well as the parents of the deceased are residents of Cuttack. The deceased committed suicide inside an abandoned house at Chandanpur in Puri district on 18-8-1997 and her dead body was detected in the early hours of 19-8-1997. In the detailed F.I.R. dated 22-8-1997 lodged by the father of the deceased it has been alleged that there was demand for dowry at the time of marriage by the father-in-law and mother-in-law. It is also alleged that subsequently, the deceased was being tortured for non-fulfilment of demand for dowry. The main allegation in the F.I.R. appears to be against the mother-in-law of the deceased. In course of investigation, the police has seized suicide notes left by the deceased as well as some writings of the deceased wherein she had described about her experiences in her inlaws' house. Though in the suicide notes, she has not particularly blamed any person, from the other writings of the deceased which have been seized, it appears that the deceased was leading an unhappy life mostly on account of two factors; (i) she was being over-worked in her inlaws' family the major blame for which has been ascribed to her mother-in-law; and (ii) her husband was incapable of performing the act of sexual intercourse. From the statements of some of the relations of the deceased, such as her mother and brothers, it appears that most of the allegations are against the mother-in-law and to a lesser extent against the husband and the father-in-law as well as the present petitioner. In the writings of the deceased there are some allegations that the present petitioner being dominated by her mother (the mother-in-law of the deceased) was sometimes ill-treating the deceased, but by and large, the allegations and grievances were against the mother-in-law.