The Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court has set aside proceedings against a family of six in a dowry harassment case, terming the charges “frivolous” and “motivated”. The Court highlighted contradictions in the complainant’s version and flagged serious flaws in the police investigation, asserting that continued prosecution would amount to an abuse of the legal process.
The case stemmed from an FIR registered by a woman who alleged cruelty and harassment for dowry after her marriage on January 28, 2024. She claimed she was driven out of her matrimonial home within two months and accused her husband and his family members of mental and physical abuse, including a demand for ₹20 lakh.
However, a Division Bench of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Sanjay A. Deshmukh, after reviewing the chargesheet, found significant inconsistencies in the complaint. The Court noted that the complainant had suppressed her own employment details — she was working as a senior executive at a Pune-based health insurance company — while accusing the husband and his family of harassment and financial demands.
The Judges observed that the couple had spent part of their short-lived marriage on a honeymoon in Manali and that the complainant’s own travel records and admission contradicted several of her allegations.
