The Delhi High Court has expounded that the unnatural death of young married women demands prompt and diligent police investigation, as it expressed displeasure over a delay of eight months in registration of an FIR by Delhi Police in a dowry death case.
HC Judge, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma observed while denying anticipatory bail to the husband and in-laws in a dowry death case of a 25-year-old woman within six months of marriage.
HC Bench enunicated that the registration of the FIR in this case “took more time than the entire duration of her marriage” and it was an “unfortunate reality” that the deceased’s father was made to “run from pillar to post” before the FIR was registered pursuant to a judicial order.
Bench further added that the consequences of delaying an FIR cannot be brushed aside lightly, the court hoped that in future, applications seeking directions for registration of FIR in cases of unnatural death of young women shortly after the wedding shall be taken up with “greater urgency” by magisterial courts, especially when there are allegations of dowry-related harassment.
In the present case, the husband informed the deceased’s father on July 2, 2025, that his daughter was in a hospital after she fell from stairs. However, upon reaching the hospital, the father suspected foul play. It was subsequently found that the deceased died by suicide after she hung herself in the matrimonial home. While the deceased succumbed to her injuries on July 3, 2025, the FIR was registered on February 13,2026 pursuant to the directions of a magisterial court.
Bench added that, “Yet another case of a young girl having lost her life within six months of the marriage. In this Court’s view, once the deceased’s parents had raised suspicion against her husband and in-laws, in a case involving the death of a young married woman within a few months of marriage, the matter required a prompt and effective response from the investigating agency”.
“The consequences of such delay in lodging the FIR cannot be lightly brushed aside. Cases involving the unnatural death of a young married woman clearly demand prompt and diligent investigation by the police authorities. Every passing day carries the possibility of loss or disappearance of evidence, fading of witnesses’ memory and erosion of other evidentiary material that may assist in discovering the truth,” stated the court.
The husband and the in-laws sought pre-arrest bail on the grounds of the delay in lodging the FIR and that the deceased’s father did not level any “specific elaborate allegations” in his first statement given to the executive magistrate.
Source PTI
Picture Source :
