Bombay High Court grants relief to ex-Bahrain cop in dowry harassment case

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to a former policeman Bahrain in a case of dowry harassment filed against him by his daughter-in-law at the Malwani police station.

Vacation judge VL Achliya granted bail to Ilyas Beg on a surety of Rs15,000 after observing that the allegations in the complaint are primarily against Beg's son and custodial interrogation is not required.

On May 20, a complaint under section 498 (A) (dowry harassment) of the IPC was registered against Beg, his wife and his son by the daughter-in-law. The complaint also included section 377 of the IPC (unnatural sex) and relevant ones under the Information Technology Act against the son.

It was alleged that in 2008 Beg's son got married to the complainant. While the son was also a citizen of Bahrain and lived there, his wife continued living in Mumbai after marriage. The son used to visit her here. Further, it was alleged, from 2008 to 2014, the complainant was harassed by the accused.

Beg, in his application seeking anticipatory bail, argued that he and his wife had come to India to resolve the dispute between their son and daughter-in-law, and that they were framed in the case.

After going through the case papers, the court noted, "Allegations made are against the son, who is not (an) applicant before this court." The court also took into consideration that the sessions court had granted anticipatory bail to Beg's wife.

Accordingly, the court allowed Beg's application and directed him not to leave the country without prior permission of the court, be present at the police station from June 10 to 12, and as and when required, for the purpose of investigation, and not get in touch with the complainant or try to influence other witnesses.