Newly-married woman alleges dowry harassment; husband fails to consummate marriage

A case of dowry harassment is lodged by a 25-year-old Rajeshwari (name changed), a resident of Electronic City. While her bodily injuries are minor, her allegations are major as the cops have booked three people for violating the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 in addition to four provisions of the Indian Penal Code for criminal intimidation, intentional insult, and cruelty.

According to Rajeshwari, she got married to Kollegal resident Manjunath on April 21, 2019. According to mutually-agreed conditions, her family also gave 175 grams worth gold jewellery to her during the wedding that was conducted in a grand manner as mandated by her in-laws. After staying for three months in her husband’s house, Rajeshwari returns to her home in Mandya to reveal to her family that her husband did not have a physical relationship with her due to his father’s dictat. Her mother in law had also forcibly taken back the jewellery given to her.

Later, when the couple go to Manali for honeymoon, the husband fails to have intercourse with her. Instead, she complains that he was resorting to sexual medicines like creams to help him with his sexual dysfunctions. A few days later, the husband asks her to get more gold jewellery and Rs 5 lakh cash. He threatens her that if she doesn’t oblige, she will never be allowed inside his home, and also mouths expletives and inflicts minor physical injuries.

Rajeshwari partly succumbs to his wishes and hands him 33 gram gold. She  later finds that her husband is regularly indulging in WhatsApp phone and video calls with another person until midnight. When Rajeshwari asks her in-laws to advice their son, both the families meet later in Kollegal to discuss the matter.

From then on, the couple never talk to each other, and Rajeshwari comes back to join her husband in Bangalore. On December 28, 2019, her husband allegedly pulls her air, bites her lips, presses his leg on her throat to choke her to death. The husband’s idea was to threaten her to submission yet again.

Rajeshwari alleges that the dowry harassment went on from April 21, 2019 to December 28, 2019, prompting her to file a complaint on New Year’s Eve at 4pm. The other accused are Raju S and Ratnamma, both residents of Kollegal, while her husband Manjunath is employed with a private firm in Bangalore.