New Delhi, Jun 13 (PTI) A Delhi court has acquitted the mother-in-law and sister-in-law of charges of cruelty and dowry death, saying the duo proved their defence that they were falsely implicated in the case..

Additional Sessions Judge Sheetal Chaudhary Pradhan was hearing a case under IPC Sections 498 A (cruelty by a husband or his relatives towards a married woman) and 304 B (dowry death) against the duo.

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The FIR was registered by one Meena, who alleged that the mother-in-law, Rekha, and sister-in-law, Kanchan, tortured her daughter Sushmita alias Sonam for dowry, because of which she committed suicide by hanging on July 22, 2022.

In its order dated June 2, the court said that the mother did not depose against the accused persons in terms of the complaint that they demanded dowry, following which she was declared hostile.

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It said that the statements of the victim's husband, brother and father-in-law did not support the prosecution's story, and, besides, their depositions were discarded because of being unreliable.

The court noted that the forensic science lab (FSL) report regarding the data retrieved from the mobile phone of the deceased showed she was friends with one Adarsh Mishra, with whom she shared an emotional bond.

It noted that Mishra had deposed before the court that he met Sushmita via social media and that besides being in touch with her, he met her on several occasions and also spoke to the victim soon before her death, but she had never complained regarding any kind of cruelty committed upon her by the accused persons.

The court said according to the post-mortem report, there were no external injuries suggesting that she was physically abused.

"Further, the deceased did not leave any suicide note, which could imply that she was subjected to cruelty. All the other witnesses examined by the prosecution did not depose regarding any of the incident by which it could be inferred that the deceased was subjected to any kind of dowry demand," the court said.

It said that the prosecution failed to establish the guilt of the accused persons for the offences, nor was it able to prove that the duo abetted the deceased to commit suicide.

"Accused persons were able to raise a defence of them being falsely implicated in this case," the court said, acquitting them.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)