Translated from

Howrah: Be it Phoolmani Devi from Jeliapada or Sunita Das from Dhulagarh, there are many more such mother-in-laws who are either languishing in jails or running from pillar to post in courts seeking bail as their estranged daughter-in-laws have implicated them under dowry harassment charges. A lot of seminars and conferences have been organized at various national levels taking into consideration the seriousness of the problems involved in such cases.

Many judges participated in one such seminar organized recently. The cumulative conclusive view of all the judges in the seminar was to sensitize the police in matters related to arrest in dowry harassment cases and all the judges unanimously agreed that a thorough investigation should be carried out about the genuineness of the complaint received before proceeding to arrest. If charges are found to be true, then the police should work under the supervision of senior officials of district or department as the case may be. Talking to Sanmarg, Vineet Ruia from ‘Bharat Bachao Sangathan’, an organization working to help victims of false cases, has said that in West Bengal itself, the organization has come across more than 400 such false cases of dowry harassment and an equally more number of people are suffering.

Specifically in such cases, the senior citizens, i.e. the parents-in-law of the complainant daughter-in-law are at a much greater risk. Only the sufferer can understand the pain of visiting courts and jails in the dusky days. Ruia added, that though in some states, the higher police officials have issued strict orders to not to arrest anyone in dowry harassment cases without proper investigation, however in the absence of any enforcement on the directive from the law, the discretion remains in the hands of the police at the end regarding arrest. Answering to a question he expressed sadness that West Bengal Police still needs a lot sensitization in such matters and that their behavior is unsatisfactory.

That is the reason why the moment such cases are registered, the police starts showing the stick to the in-laws.

On the other hand, the courts are giving a lot of emphasis on settling such matters through mutual dialogue rather than following lengthy court procedures. Even volunteers from Bharat Bachao Sangathan believe that mutual dialogue is a very effective way to solve such issues. It is worthwhile to note that in many of such cases approaching the district courts, the judges often offer to have a mutual dialogue in a room with open minds. Sources from the courts have been quoted as saying that in many cases, allowing the litigants to talk to each other works as a very effective way to solve such issues amicably.

53 years old Jharna Pal told Sanmarg that it is highly unfortunate the same daughter-in-law who was welcomed into our family with a lot of love and respect is filing cases against us containing allegations that we have tried to kill her and demanded dowry from her. People were feeling pity for Phoolmati who was awarded life imprisonment in one such case. Litigants were heard saying that matters of 498A have become more dangerous than AK-47 in the precincts of the courts.