Balachaur village couple gets lifer in dowry death case

Tribune News Service

Nawanshahr, May 17

The court of Nawanshahr District and Sessions Judge Kanwaljit Singh Bajwa on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to a couple in dowry death of their daughter-in-law on May 30, 2018.

The couple, Rattan Singh and Shalindra, hail from Thathiala Bet village in Balachaur subdivision of the district. A case under Sections 302, 304-B, 120-B and 498-A read with Section 34 of the IPC and under Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act on May 30, 2018, was registered at the Balachaur Sadar police station on the complaint of Jaspal Singh, father of victim Anita Rani, who was married to couple’s son Kamal Rana on October 25, 2016.

Jaspal Singh of Possi village, Hoshiarpur, had alleged that just after one month of their marriage, the in-laws of Anita Rani had started harassing and torturing her over bringing insufficient dowry but matter was later reconciled by village panchayat.

He said then his son-in-law Kamal Rana went to Italy and on May 3, 2018, he received a call from Anita Rani from the mobile phone of her mother-in-law. At that time, she told them that she was being beaten by her father-in-law Rattan Singh and he was roaming armed with a double-barrel gun with an intention to kill her.

Jaspal Singh alleged that his daughter pleaded with them to save her life and he immediately dialled women helpline (1091) and, thereafter, he along with his son Sandeep Kumar and his nephew Shiv Singh reached at Anita’s in-laws house where they found the body of Anita Rani lying in a pool of blood on her bed.

On Tuesday, the court awarded life imprisonment to both Rattan Singh and his wife Shalindra under Section 304-B with Section 34 of IPC, 120-B, three-year rigourous imprisonment under 498-A, three-year rigourous imprisonment to Rattan under Section 27 of the Arms Act. All the sentences would run concurrently.

In the order, District and Sessions judge Kanwaljit Singh Bajwa mentioned that a hapless woman was done to death within four corners of her matrimonial home just because she could not fulfil the illegal demands of dowry raised by accused. So, such culprits should be dealt with an iron hand so that a deterrent effect is created in the minds of those, who for the lust of dowry and undue enrichment would not hesitate to kill an innocent woman.

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