Cruelty to wife for dark skin punishable under 498A: Calcutta HC

KOLKATA: Cruelty to wife for her dark complexion is a penal offence, punishable under Section 498A of the IPC, the Calcutta High Court has said in a recent judgment.

The judgment was passed in a case of alleged marital torture and death of a woman in Cooch Behar in 1998.
“Causing cruelty to the deceased victim for her black complexion (sic) even after her marriage by the in-laws would definitely attract Section 498A/34 IPC against the in-laws, including the accused husband,” a division bench of justices Sahidullah Munshi and Subhasis Dasgupta remarked in a 31-page order on June 25.
Recounting the woman’s ordeal, additional public prosecutor Arun Kumar Maity said: “Three days into her arranged marriage in October 1997, the woman was made to even stay in a cowshed. The high court has made it clear that mental harassment by the husband and in-laws for a woman’s dark complexion is an offence under Section 498A IPC.”
“I completely agree with this,” said defence lawyer Arindam Jana. “All dreams a woman can have about marriage are shattered if, from the very next day, the in-laws, including her husband, start taunting her by calling her ugly because of her dark complexion. There cannot be greater mental torture, harassment or cruelty to any bride. This should be mental cruelty, which is engraved in the first limb of Section 498A IPC.”
In this particular case, the accused husband, Maziul Miah, and his family had been paid Rs 11,000, three silver ornaments and a bicycle, among other things.
But the woman was oppressed and ill-treated, later even assaulted with a cycle chain. She was constantly threatened that her husband would annul their marriage and re-marry.
Three days into marriage, she was forced to stay in a cowshed. Four days before she was found dead by han-ging, her father had asked her to return to her marital home, as he was poor.
The autopsy report first hinted that she could have been murdered. A trial court had indicated Maziul and his parents for murder and mental torture and sentenced them to a life behind bars. His father died in custody in 2013. The HC, however, said Maziul’s mother, though convicted of mental cruelty, could not be held responsible for the death only because the incident took place in her home.
“We hope this judgement will embolden many women, who are suffering in silence due to their complexion, to speak out,” said Leena Gangopadhyay, the state women’ commission chairperson. “In many cases, this does not come to the fore. We are counselling a government hospital doctor, who is being repeatedly taunted by her unemployed husband for her dark skin.... In arranged marriages, financial demands are often cloaked in such harassment over complexion.”
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