Man gets bail in dowry case

A man, accused of partially burning his wife on being dissatisfied with the dowry he received, has been granted bail by a Delhi court which took into account the inconsistent statements of the victim before police and during the judicial proceedings.

A man, accused of partially burning his wife on being dissatisfied with the dowry he received, has been granted bail by a Delhi court which took into account the inconsistent statements of the victim before police and during the judicial proceedings.

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Additional Sessions Judge JS Aryan recently allowed the bail application of Manoj Gupta, a resident of Badarpur in south Delhi who was in jail since his arrest in February 2007, on furnishing a personal and surety bond of Rs 25,000 each. Earlier, the woman told the SDM that the accused husband set her on fire by pouring kerosene on her, the court said. The woman, while testifying in court, said her husband came from behind and set her on fire, ASJ Aryan said, adding that facts related to the alleged incident were disclosed by her in the FIR and it did not talk of use of kerosene in the offence.

The court, allowing the bail plea, took into account the alleged inconsistencies, highlighted by Gupta's counsel Falak Mohd Meo during the arguments.

An FIR under section 498A (subjecting woman to cruelty), 307 (attempt to murder), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC was lodged in February, 2007 at Badarpur police station against the accused and his family members.

It was alleged by the woman that her husband and in-laws had been harassing since her marriage in 2005 for not bringing sufficient dowry, including a motorcycle. Nearly two years later, the woman was admitted to a city hospital with 30 per cent burn injuries and an FIR was filed into over incident.