Dowry harassment plaint makes police suspicious

The city police, on Monday, initiated a probe based on a dowry harassment complaint filed by a 40-year-old woman.

Though the case was filed, the police said they suspected the veracity of the complaint.

According to the complainant, Geetha, an LLB graduate, she had married government employee Vinayaka M three years ago. She told the police that her husband and in-laws started harassing her for more money to construct a house.

When the harassment – both mental and physical – became unbearable, Geetha informed her brother, who took her away to their parent’s place from Vinayaka’s residence on September 5.
“My father-in-law Mannaji Rao Jadhav and sister-in-law Prathima Dasharath scolded my brother and father, and tried to strangulate me. They also launched an attack, leaving bruises on me,” Geetha said in the complaint.

Inspector Rajendra of Chandra Layout police station, however, expressed suspicion over the genuineness of the complaint.
“We have filed an FIR. What we have found so far is that the couple had stayed together just for three months, and the possibility of the woman being harassed, as she had claimed, doesn’t arise. We are investigating before arresting the husband,” he said.

Geetha claimed in the complaint that her husband was given a dowry of Rs3.5 lakh in cash, besides gold and other gifts. An additional Rs40,000 was given on further demand.

“They have been pestering me for more money. My father had given Rs25,000 for a bike and used to give Rs10,000 for every festival,” she added.