New Delhi, June 18: A Delhi court on Monday, June 18, observed that all sections of the society, including the wealthy ones, are not above the greed and fell prey to the evil of dowry. The court also convicted a man and his family for torturing his 23-year-old wife to death for not fulfilling dowry demands. Rejecting the man’s claims that his family is wealthier than that of his wife’s and hence, didn’t need any dowry, Additional Sessions Judge Sunena Sharma said, “There is no rule that all financially sound people are above the vice of greed. Nowadays, all sections of society have fallen prey to the evil of dowry.” Also Read - Suicide Risk in Bipolar Patients May Be Reduced By Electroconvulsive Therapy

The judge also noted that the family of the accused purchased a bigger car despite the victim having brought a luxury car. Also Read - NEET 2020 Latest News: 18-year-old Medical Aspirant Kills Self Over Fear of Failure; Second Incident in 2 Days

“The fact that the accused had purchased a Skoda despite the deceased having already brought an Optra in her marriage rather supports the prosecution case that accused family was not satisfied with the brand/quality of the car given in the marriage and when their demands for a Skoda were not met by the deceased’s parents, they bought one second hand Skoda on their own,” the judge noted. Also Read - World Suicide Prevention Day: 41-Year-Old Kerala Man Hangs Himself in Covid-19 Observation Centre

The court also said that the absence of injury marks on the body of the victim doesn’t rule out that she wasn’t tortured by her in-laws and husband before she committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling fan.

“Cruelty within the meaning of section 304-B of IPC does not only include physical cruelty but also mental cruelty. Persistent harassment in depriving a person from fulfilment of his or her basic needs, constant taunting and nagging in furtherance of unlawful demand of dowry and physical scuffles like slapping, pulling hair, pushing by force although do not cause any external mark of injury on the body but the same may leave indelible scars on the psyche of the person causing him or her immense mental pain and agony which may sometime compel a person to take extreme step of committing suicide,” the court said.

With PTI inputs