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increasing dowry death cases in 1980 by issuing orders vide its law circular
No.4787
dated 16-9-80 that all cases where a woman dies within five years of her marriage
have to be investigated by an officer of or above the rank of Deputy or Assistant
Superintendent of Police with the post-mortem to The held by a team of two
doctors.
The circular also made it mandatory that the body of the deceased is to be
disposed
off only after blood relatives of the deceased see the dead body. Law circular No.
4846 dated 4-12-82 increased the operational time limit from marriage to death
from five to ten years. It is the Criminal Law (2nd amendment) Act-1983 that made
an inquest by an executive magistrate mandatory in the case of unnatural death of
a woman within seven years of her marriage.
unnatural
death
of
a
woman
within
ten
years of marriage should be investigated as a case of murder until otherwise
proved.
Medical evidence
investigation of dowry death cases has special links with the science of forensic
medicine because of the special nature of the investigation. Dowry deaths are
figuratively called bedroom deaths. In most cases no outsider including the
investigating officer can have any knowledge about the circumstances and events
that led to the death. Secondly, the offenders being the custodians of the dead
body
and the scene for many hours after the death till they volunteer to make its
occurrence known, have all the time in the world to eliminate or tamper with any
clues. In the circumstances, the investigating officer is completely at the mercy of
medical experts to interpret the cause of death.
marks of inflammation
antemortal or not.
Collection
in
deciding
of
whether
wound
is
evidence
Dowry death
collecting
investigation has
evidence
to
address
and
certain
problems
examining
in
the
field in
witnesses.
These offences take place within the family circle. Sometimes, though blood
relatives of the deceased volunteer evidence in the heat of trauma, a gradual
reconciliation would be the normal tendency. Therefore, sound evidence is rarely
forthcoming
and
difficult
to
sustain.
Dowry death being an offshoot of the relationship of wife and husband and
veiled in a shroud of secrecy, even the parents of the deceased may be unaware of the hardships
the deceased underwent at the hands of her husband and his relatives
in
the
process
of
the
dowry
death.
If the investigating officer is lucky, he may succeed in collecting some evidence
of cruelty. The next stage at which he would find himself would be the girl's death.
There would be an absolute void in between with no clues or evidence of what
happened or no eyewitnesses to vouch for that. Clues on the dead body and
surroundings are likely to be tampered with by the offenders.
The dowry death cases are offences primarily under central acts namely the
Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 with its amendments of 1984 and 1986 and certain
sections of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973.
The same word 'connection' brings in a similar impression while defining 'dowry
death'
in
Section
304B of the Indian Penal Code and section 113B of the Indian Evidence Act while
declaring in connection with demand of dowry', ipso facto rendering the incatenation between the offence of dowry death
The victim does not give information about her harassment while alive
because of Indian cultural values, the need to continue to live with in-laws,
feelings of alienation in the in-laws' house and parental pressure to conform
and adjust.
There are no independent witnesses to the commission
is committed within the four walls of the in-laws' house
of
the
offence
as
it
The evidence can be easily tampered with because the scene of the
is at the disposal of the in-laws until they volunteer to make the
public.
offence
offence
304B
IPC
of
4.
"likely to drive".
&
113A
Indian
her
Evidence Act;
husband"
498A
IPC.
Inquest
over
the
dead
body.
if she dies within seven years of her marriage under one of the
following
circumstances.
a)
b)
She
There
is
committed
reasonable
suspicion
suicide.
about
her
death.
The inquest may be held by a police officer if above conditions are not
fulfilled,
but a relative of the deceased makes a request for inquest.
Examination of witnesses:
.
The
blood
relatives
of
independent witnesses from
the neighbourhood
deceased are given preference.
Deputy
Superintendent
of
Police
the
who
deceased
intimately know
investigates
the
and
the
case:
78page- RCR