Presumptions under dowry death

The evidence law

Dr. Nadinini C.P

M DHEMETHRI
20LLB026
FIFTH
 Acknowledgement

I would sincerely like to put forward my heartfelt gratitude to Prof. Dr. Nandini C.P, for giving me an
opportunity to write this research paper on “Presumptions under dowry death - critique ”. I would
like to thank her for great support and help in doing the research. “I have tried my best to collect infor-
mation and cases about the project in various possible ways to depict clear picture about the given”
topic. I would also like to thank DSNLU for providing me with all the e-resources with the help of
which I could do all the research required to write this project.
 Index

Synopsis …………………………………………………………………………………………………1
Literature review………………………………………………………………………………………..2
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………….3

INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………………4
CHAPTER 1…………………………………………………………………………………………….5
CHAPTER 2………………………………………………………………………………….…………9
CASE LAWS…………………………………………………………………………………………...11
CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………………..15
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………………..16
1

Synopsis

Introduction

Presumptions are very essential in matrimonial offences because generally these offences are committed
in privacy of residential houses and in secrecy, independent and direct evidence is not easy to get.The
provision of Sec.113B was inserted in Evidence Act to secure convictions in dowry death cases which
provides that instead of presumption of innocence, the accused would be presumed prima facie guilty in
such homicides if a woman dies within seven years of marriage and there is proof of cruelty.

Objective of the study: The researcher in this study tried to explain the difference between the dowry
death and suicide, cruelty relating to dowry death , the presumptions as to dowry death and five land
mark cases that highlights the presumptions as to dowry death.

Scope of the Study: The researcher has limited the scope to dowry and the presumption of the judi-
ciary in cases of death if the wife within a duration of 6 months.

Research Question: wether Section 113-B in the Evidence Act tried to strengthen the prosecution
hands by permitting a presumption to be raised if certain foundation facts are established and the unfor-
tunate event has taken place within seven years of marriage?

Research Methodology: The researcher has adopted the doctrinal type of research

Chapterization:

1. INTRODUCTION

2. CHAPTER 1
3. CHAPTER 2
4. CASE LAWS
5. CONCLUSION
2

Synopsis

Literature review

JOURNAL ARTICLES

1. A STUDY ON PRESUMPTION OF DOWRY IN INDIAN EVIDENCE LAW : This paper

deals with dowry and the presumption of the judiciary in cases of death if the wife within a duration
of 6 months. In these circumstances the guilt immediately falls on the husband and his family.
2. Medical Evidence in Dowry Deaths: An Evaluation by Indian Courts by Dipa dude : The pa-
per emphasizes on the significance and indispensability of Forensic Medical evidence for the pur-
pose of prosecuting an accused for the offence.
3. Dowry System as a Social Evil: A Study of India by fizana Ashraf Malik : this paper discusses
about how the dowry system is an evil that has murdered and disabled countless vulnerable women,
forcing some to commit suicide.
4. Law, Custom, and Crimes against Women: The Problem of Dowry Death in India by JOHN
VAN WILLIGEN and V. C. CHANNA : this article is Based on comparative examination of the
distribution of dowry, dowry abuses, attitudes toward dowry and dowry violence and cross-cultural
theories of dowry this analysis shows that the Dowry Prohibition Act will not be effective in reduc-
ing what in India are termed dowry deaths.
5. DOWRY DEATHS : BURDEN OF PROOF by R. Deb : this article discusses the need for law
reforms with respect to dowry death and its presumptions in India. It also consists , case analysis of
three landmark cases, which gives the researcher a clarity on dowry death and the standard of proof.

ARTICLES

6. Presumption in dowry death to be backed by cruelty proof: Supreme Court - THE INDIAN
EXPRESS - this article , that was published in THE INDIAN EXPRESS

7. Dowry Death Shall Be Presumed If It Is Shown That Wife Was Harassed For Dowry Soon Be-
fore Death : Supreme Court - LIVE LAW. In
8. Cruelty to Women [S. 498-A IPC and allied sections by Tejaswi pandit - SCC ONLINE
3

Abstract

Practice of dowry poses heavy threat to the life of females. Dowry is an age old practice in Indian soci -
ety referring to property or valuable security given by one party to another as a consideration for mar-
riage. The origin of dowry primarily was the contribution of wife‟s family or by herself with the inten-
tion to help the husband.This custom of dowry was started in the medieval period. Women were gifted
with wealth and jewel from their parents during her marriage and this served as a tool of financial inde -
pendence for the bride even after marriage. This menace is the root cause of almost all violence against
a married woman. In most cases after marriage the problem of dowry will arise. If the wife is not able to
provide all, which her husband and in laws demand, her life in the groom‟s house become miserable.
She will be treated cruelly and in some cases she may lose her life. This paper deals with dowry and the
presumption of the judiciary in cases of death if the wife within a duration of 6 months. In these circum-
stances the guilt immediately falls on the husband and his family.
4

INTRODUCTION

Even today , it is quite evident that, most pf the women in our country suffer from dowery cruelty.
Dowry demand has become a common sight in the Indian society. Most of the domestic violences
women face are because of the demand of dowry. Dowry may happen in any families there is no differ-
ence between rich, middle class, poor, educated or uneducated. when a marriage is fixed no one is
worry as to how clever, intellectual, and homely the girl is, but all that matters is, how much money and
luxuries will she get to husband‟s home. With the passage of time dowry became a customary part in
Indian society and became demanding dowry as their right in order to marry a woman, and gradually
the dowry became violence to women when the groom‟s family didn‟t get enough dowry, resulting in
harassment or cruelty of brides and also dowry deaths, especially in certain parts of India . Dowry de -
mands affect the lives of females socially, economically and culturally. Section 2 of the Dowry Prohibi -
tion Act 1961 reads as. —“ In this Act, “dowry” means any property or valuable security given or
agreed to be given either directly or indirectly—
(a) by one party to a marriage to the other party to the marriage; or
(b) by the parent of either party to a marriage or by any other person, to either party to the marriage
or to any other person,
at or before 1 [or any time after the marriage] 2 [in connection with the marriage of the said
parties, but does not include] dower or mahr in the case of persons to whom the Muslim Per-
sonal Law (Shariat)” 1

it is clear from the above mentioned section that dowry is a property which woman brings to her hus-
band at marriage and includes the land, all sorts of properties, valuable securities given or agreed to be
given directly or indirectly at the time of marriage.The term dowry does not include repayment of mar-
riage expenses. The term dowry does not include Mahr.

1. Dowery prohibition act, 1961, 28, S 2.

5
Dowry or Kanyadanam is an important part of Hindu marital rites. Kanya means daughter and danna
means gift. The custom of Kanyadaan (giving daughter in marriage) followed by Varadakshina (gift to
the bridegroom at the time of marriage) may have given increase to dowry. 2 It is in the Rig Vedas that
one comes across the concept of kanyadaan. It was a custom in ancient times to give dakshina (obliga-
tory gifts) after any kind of daan (voluntary gifts), hence the tradition of varadakshina following kan-
nyadaan. It is said that Rishi Karva gave a number of gifts to his daughter, Shakuntala, when she mar-
ried king Dushyant. It can be guessed that, since child marriages was the norm in ancient India, the par -
ents may have given numerous gifts to the girl as she left her maternal home. Nevertheless dowry as it
now exists, includes the extraction of cash and material goods from the bird‟s parents by the groom and
his family .

CHAPTER 1

The first national legislation to deal with the problem of dowry is the dowry prohibition Act 1961 with
the main motive to prohibit the heavy demand in dowry; government introduced the Dowry Prohibition
Act on 1st July 1961.3 Unfortunately, the dowry system is still widespread in India despite the provision
in the Dowry Prohibition Act 1961. According to section 3 of the dowry prohibition Act 1961, the Act
prohibits the demand, payment or acceptance of a dowry, as consideration for the marriage, where
dowry defined as a gift demanded or given as a precondition for a marriage. So asking or giving of
dowry is punishable by an imprisonment of up to six months, a fine of up to fifteen thousand rupees or
the amount of dowry, whichever is more, or imprisonment up to five year. It replaced several parts of
anti-dowry legislation which had been enacted by various Indian states. However in accordance with
section 3 of this Act, both the giver and receiver are pursued to rom potential harassment by the hus -
band and his relatives. The first national legislation to deal with the problem of dowry is the dowry pro -
hibition Act 1961 with the main motive to prohibit the heavy demand in dowry; government introduced
the Dowry Prohibition Act on 1st July 1961 . Unfortunately, the dowry system is still widespread in In-
dia despite the provision in the Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 .

2.Ashraf malik fizana , Dowry System as a Social Evil: A Study of India ,Vol. 2(1) , American Jour-
nal of Multidisciplinary Research in Africa, pg 1-9 , download.
3. Ibid.
6

A) Dowry Death and Suicide

Where the death of a woman is caused by any burns or bodily injury or happens otherwise than under
normal circumstances within seven years of her marriage and it is shown that soon before her death she
was subjected to cruelty by her husband or any relative of her husband for or in connection with the de-
mand for dowry, such death shall be called „dowry death‟, and such husband or relative shall be
deemed to have caused her death. The Dowry Prohibition Act goes to the utmost limit of creating crimi-
nal offence to prescribe the giving or taking of dowry as a consideration for marriage or demanding or
abetting the same. The statute intended to eradicate the kind of corruption and commercialisation of the
concept of dowry. So the definition under the Act was, therefore, moulded to the peculiar object of
nipping the extortionate evil in the bud . mention in the oldest of Hindu scriptures and is continued to -
day with a greater zeal. In the case of Kunju Moideen v. Sayed Mohamme , amount paid by Mo-
hammedan in connection with daughter‟s marriage, to future bridegroom for buying of property in joint
names of daughter and would be son-in-law is not „dowry‟ within the meaning of section 2. Therefore,
the giving or taking of property or valuable security must have some connection with the marriage of
the parties and a relation between the giving and taking of property or valuable security with the mar-
riage of the parties is essential. 4

In S. Gopal Reddy v. state Andhra pradesh, 6 the Supreme Court stated that the demand, though it was
made prior to the marriage has to be considered as offence under section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition
Act. In this case the court stated that, mere demand of dowry is enough to bring home the offence to an
accused and that any demand of property or money made from the bride or her relatives by the bride-
groom or his parents or vice versa would fall in the troubles of dowry under section 4 of DV Act. The
considerable point stated by the Supreme Court is that marriage in this situation would contain a future
marriage also

4. Presumption in dowry death to be backed by cruelty proof: Supreme Court, The Indian Express, Nov
20,2016.
5.Kunju Moideen vs Sayed Mohammed, AIR 1986 Ker 48
6. S. Gopal Reddy v. state Andhra pradesh, 1996 SCC (4) 596
7

more special where the non- fulfilment of the demand of dowry leads to the bad result of the marriage
not happening at all.

B) Cruelty Relating to Dowry

Traditionally woman is subjected to the whims and caprices of man, particularly when it relates to the
relationship of husband and wife it becomes worst. Woman in a family or a relationship with her hus-
band sometimes becomes intolerable and miserable which drags the woman towards suicide. Section
498-A of IPC comes into play on such situation. Section 498-A of IPC can only be invoked by a mar-
ried woman against the husband or his relatives for cruelty. This section was added with the intention to
protect women from dowry harassment, domestic violence and to end the offences of cruelty by hus -
band or in-laws of wife and providing punishment to the husband or relative of the husband of a woman
subjecting to cruelty. section 498-A, manifests with four types of cruelty: Any conduct that is likely to
drive a woman to commit suicide; any conduct which is likely to cause serious injury to the life, limb or
health of the woman; harassment with the aim of forcing the woman or her relatives to give some prop -
erty; or harassment because the woman or her relatives are either incapable to yield to the demand for
more money or do not give some share of the property .7

The Supreme Court , stated that, Consequences of cruelty which are likely to drive a woman to suicide
or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb, or health, whether mental or physical of the woman is
necessary to be established in order to bring home the application of section 498-A of IPC. Section 498-
A, IPC, manifests that whoever being the husband or relative of the husband of a woman subject such
woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and
shall also be liable to fine. Clause (b) of the Explanation to that section shows that the harassment of the
woman where such harassment is with a view to coercing her or any person related to her to meet any
unlawful demand for property or valuable security or is on account of the failure by her or any person
related to her to meet such demand would amount to cruelty for the purpose of section 498-A, IPC.

7. Shruti kakkar, Dowry Death Shall Be Presumed If It Is Shown That Wife Was Harassed For Dowry
Soon Before Death : Supreme Court , live law( 23 Dec 2021 6:23 PM)
8

To invoke section 498-A, IPC one has to be a “relative” of the husband by blood, marriage or adoption.
So by no stretch of imagination would a girlfriend or even a concubine in an etymological sense be a
relative .8 In Vijeta Gajra v. State of NCT of Delhi 9 it was held that the word relative in section 498-A
IPC, would be limited only to the blood relations and relations by marriage. The term cruelty of section
498-A, IPC, has been explained in the explanation to section 498-A which consist of two clauses
namely Clause (a) and (b). Cruelty or harassment to wife was to force her to cause grave bodily injury
to herself or to commit suicide, or the harassment was to compel her to fulfill illegal demand for dowry.
Every type of harassment or cruelty that would not attract section 498-A, 10 IPC. Cruelty can either be
mental or physical. It is difficult to straitjacket the term cruelty by means of a definition, because cruelty
is a relative term. What constitutes cruelty for one may not constitute cruelty for another person . Cru -
elty, Clause (b) to section 498-A IPC, contemplates harassment of the woman to coerce her or any rela -
tion of her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or valuable security. A complainant if wants
to come under the ambit of Clause (b)of Explanation of section 498-A, she can succeed if it can be
proved that there was an” unlawful demand” by the husband or any of her relations in respect of money
or some valuable security . Section 304-B and section 498-A are not mutually exclusive .these provi-
sions deal with two distinct offences. It is true that „cruelty‟ is a common essential to both the sections
and that has to be proved . In the case of Atmaram v. State of Maharashtra ,woman was subjected to ha -
rassment by her husband and his relatives, purposely. The Supreme Court held that, Clause (a) of sec-
tion 498- A, deals with aggravated forms of cruelty which cause grave injury, and convicted her hus-
band for cruelty. In Shobha Rani v. Madhukar Reddi , the court defined concept of cruelty and a new di-
mension has been given, cruelty while granting a divorce to the woman on the context of demand for
dowry. Explanation to section 498-A provides that any wilful conduct which is of such a nature as is
likely to drive a woman to commit suicide would constitute

8.Keerthan M . Murali , A STUDY ON PRESUMPTION OF DOWRY IN INDIAN EVIDENCE

LAW , Vol 120,International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics ,pg 157, No. 5 (2018),32.pdf
9. Vijeta Gajra vs State Of Nct Of Delhi, (2010)
10.Tejaswi Pandit ,Cruelty to Women [S. 498-A IPC and allied sections, SCC ONLINE ( dec 3 2018).
9
Such wilful conduct which is likely to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health (whether men-
tal or physical of the woman) would also amount to cruelty. Harassment of the woman where such ha-
rassment is with a view to coercing her or any person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for
any property or valuable security would also constitute cruelty.

CHAPTER 2

Presumption as to Dowry Death

The term "dowry death" and "dowry murder" first began to be used around 1977-78 when investigations
revealed that deaths of married women, which for years had been camouflaged by the police as acci-
dents or suicides, were actually murders or abetted suicides, preceded by prolonged physical and mental
torture by the husband and in-laws in connection with dowry demand. Instead of describing them as
"wife murders" or "abetted suicides" the women's organisations began calling them "dowry deaths" .
Section 113B Penal Code has been added by the Dowry Prohibition (Amendment) Act No.43 of 1986
which was with effect from 19th November 1986. This was done in order to solve the increasing prob -
lem of dowry death. The word dowry death has been defined in 304B Indian Penal Code and the term
dowry has been defined in Section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act 1961.11 The Section 113B Indian Evi-
dence Act,1872 deals with the dowry death. Section 113B states that: “Presumption as to dowry death. -
When the question is whether a person has committed the dowry death of a woman and it is shown that
soon before her death such woman has been subjected by such person to cruelty or harassment for, or in
connection with, any demand for dowry; the court shall presume that such person had caused the dowry
death”. meaning as in Section 304-B, Indian Penal Code,1860 12

11. CHANNA V.C. willingen, Law, Custom, and Crimes against Women: The Problem of Dowry
Death in India,Vol. 50, jstor, pg 369, No. 4,1991 , 44126922.

12. Dude Dipa , Medical Evidence in Dowry Deaths: An Evaluation by Indian Courts , Vol. 37, J Indian
Acad Forensic Med , pg 297, No. 3 , download.
10

Section 304 B of the Indian Penal Code states that “Dowry death - (1) where the death of a woman is
caused by any burns or bodily injury or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances within seven
years of her marriage and it is shown that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or harass-
ment by her husband or any relative of her husband for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry,
such death shall be called "dowry death", and such husband or relative shall be deemed to have caused
her death

Nature of presumption

Section 113B uses the word "shall" and not 'may' so it is a presumption of law. On proof of the essen-
tials mentioned above, it becomes obligatory on the court to raise a presumption that the accused caused
the "dowry death". The court has no discretion to draw the presumption under this Section if the essen-
tial ingredients are proved then they are bound to draw this presumption under Sec .

113B of the Indian Evidence Act

The legislature has made this presumption a mandatory presumption of law, of course, rebuttable,
though this may sound to be a violent departure from the accepted norms of criminal law. The legisla -
ture thought that the presumption under Section 113 B should be a mandatory presumption if the evil of
dowry deaths is to be eradicated from the roots of our society. If it is proved that soon before her death,
the victim was subjected to cruelty or harassment in connection of a dowry demand, then the presump-
tion under s 113B can be raised. If the prosecution has failed to prove the case under Sec304B, IPC,

even then, no presumption can be raised under Sec. 113B of the Indian Evidence Act. So 304Bis an in-
tegral part of Sec 113B of the Indian Evidence Act Cruelty need not be physical. Even mental torture in
a given case would be a case of cruelty or harassment under 304B and such husband or relative shall be
deemed to have caused her death. Nature of Presumption 498A. In a landmark case , parties were mar -
ried on 24-5-1962. After staying at the matrimonial home for two months, she returned to her parents'
house and told them that her husband wanted a television set and a fridge. Her father gave her a sum of
Rs. 6,000 and she left for her matrimonial home. Her husband again demanded a sum of Rs. 25,000 for

purchasing a plot .
11

would not take her back unless a sum of Rs. 25,000 was paid to him. After one year he took her back
but he did not give up his demand for Rs. 25,000. Soon thereafter she left for her parents home and
came back with a sum of Rs. 15,000 with a promised that the rest of the amount would be would be paid
later on. She died of strangulation in her husband's home.The legislative intent is clear to curb the men-
ace of dowry deaths, etc. with a firm hand. It must be remembered that since crimes are generally com -
mitted in privacy of residential houses and in secrecy, independent and direct evidence is not easy to
get. That is why the legislature has by introducing Section 113-B in the Evidence Act tried to strengthen
the prosecution hands by permitting a presumption to be raised if certain foundation facts are The trial
court found accused guilty. Supreme Courtheld that accused should be convicted.

CHAPTER 3 - CASE ANALYSIS

1. Hem Chand v. State of Haryana, (1994) 6 SCC 727

Facts
In this case, the parties were married on 24th May, 1962. The bride returned to her parents ’ house after
staying in her husband’s house for 2 months. The husband had demanded for a television set and a
fridge. To fulfil this demand, the bride’s father had given Rs. 6000 to the wife and sent her back to her
matrimonial house. This time her husband demanded for Rs. 25,000 for purchasing a plot. Then, the
husband, left his wife at her maternal home and said that he would not take her ack until the total sum
was paid. Though after one year, the husband took his wife back, but he did not stop his demand for Rs.
25,000. Then the wife brought back Rs.15,000 from her house and promised that her parents would pay
the rest soon. After this incident, she was strangled to death in her husband’s home

Held
The Court held that although the prosecution had proved that the case was one of dowry death, they
were not able to prove that the husband had a direct relation with the victim’s death. The accused was
not charged under Section 302, IPC which charges for murder, but the Supreme Court raised the pre-
sumption of dowry death under Section 113 B and the accused was convicted under Section 304 B, IPC.
12

Observation
In this case, it was proved that the death of the victim was unnatural and thus the provisions of pre-
sumptions were raised. The Court balanced it out by balancing the sentence awarded to the accused.

Shanti v. State of Haryana, (1991) 1 SCC 371

Facts
In this case, it was alleged that there was a constant demand of dowry from the bride. In one instant, the
brother and father of the bride were not allowed in the matrimonial home of the bride because of failure
to pay the dowry money. The death of the victim occurred within 7 years of marriage and after the death
the body of the victim was immediately cremated, before informing her father and brother, this ruled
out any chances for natural death.

Observation
The prosecution proved beyond doubt that the mother-in-law and wife of the deceased brother-in-law of
the victim were continuously treating her to cruelty for dowry money.

Held
The Supreme Court held that under this circumstance, the presumption under Section 113 B will be
raised and both the accused were convicted under 304 B, IPC and subjected to 7 years of rigorous im-
prisonment.

Pawan Kumar v. State of Haryana, (1998) 3 SCC 309

Facts
In this case, the victim was constantly asked to bring a scooter and a fridge and when she could not, she
was subjected to cruelty and harassment by her husband and in-laws. The deceased had also mentioned
this to her father and sister who deposed the same before the Court. A day before the victim committed
suicide, she had a quarrel with her husband in front of her sister and her brother-in-law. She did not
want to go back with her husband, but her sister cajoled her into going back, the victim’s parting words
to her sister were “it would be difficult now to see her face in the future”. The next day, the victim
burned herself and was declared dead.
d
13

Observation
Although, there was no concrete evidence to prove that the quarrel that the victim had with her husband
was related to dowry, the suicide was dowry related, seeing to the witness of the victim’s family. Thus,
the presumption raised shifted the burden of proof to the accused to prove that the conversation was no
dowry related, which he was unable to quash.

Held
The Court thus held, seeing to the provisions of the Section 113 B, Indian Evidence Act that under the
mandatory presumption it seemed like the husband was guilty of dowry death and thus was convicted to
7 years of rigorous imprisonment along with fine.

Baijnath &Ors. v. State of M. P., (2017) 1 SCC 101

Facts
In this case, the prosecution was not able to prove beyond doubt that the death of the victim was dowry
related. The Supreme Court had held that mere death of the deceased, no matter how tragic it is, is not
enough to prove that death was a dowry death, thus, neither sufficient to raise presumptions under Sec-
tion 113 B, Indian Evidence Act, 1872. It was alleged that there was a demand of motorcycle from the
bride, which was quashed on the basis of witnesses.

Observation
It was proved that the newlywed couple lived separately from the in-laws and they treated the bride with
respect and there was no harassment or cruelty from their side. Even the deceased’s sister-in-law de-
posed that on the night of death, the deceased was sitting and watching a television series when they
went into their respective rooms to sleep and there was no demand of dowry from the deceased.

Held
The Court did not hold the accused to be convicted and the appeal was accepted.
14

5. Deepak v. State of U.P.,2021

FACTS

An FIR was filed by the informant (PW-1) with regard to the dowry death of his daughter who was al -
legedly killed by her in-laws. Accused was married to the informant’s daughter and at the time of mar-
riage, he had received Rs 1 lakh cash as well as goods worth Rs 1 lakh. That apart, he had given one
golden chain and golden ring to the groom, but in-laws of his daughter were not satisfied with the
dowry. Due to non-fulfilment of dowry demand, in-laws of the informant’s daughter attempted several
times to kill her and later kicked her out of their house. She was subjected to cruelty and later in June,
2015 the police informed her about the death of the daughter.

Main Question
Whether the victim had died otherwise than under normal circumstances and it was shown that soon be-
fore her death, she was subjected to cruelty and harassment by her husband or his relatives for, or in
connection with, any demand of dowry?

ANALYSIS
• The high court in this case, confirmed that the in laws only hanged the alleged. When the matter was
presented before the trial court, it is confirmed that the woman hanged herself because of the torture
from her in laws.
• It held that Section 304-B IPC and Section 113-B of Evidence Act are decisive provisions to ascertain
the unnatural death as dowry death.
• High Court concluded that there was persistent demand of dowry made by the accused from the vic-
tim who was subjected to cruelty and harassment and ultimately she had ended her life in suspicious
circumstances wherein injury inflicted on her forehead suggested some violence soon before her
death.
15

Conclusion

The legislative intent is clear to curb the menace of dowry deaths, etc. with a firm hand. It must be re -
membered that since crimes are generally committed in privacy of residential houses and in secrecy, in-
dependent and direct evidence is not easy to get. That is why the legislature has by introducing Section
113-B in the Evidence Act tried to strengthen the prosecution hands by permitting a presumption to be
raised if certain foundation facts are established and the unfortunate event has taken place within seven
years of marriage. This period of seven years is considered to be the turbulent one after which the legis -
lature assumes that the couple would have settled down in life. When the question at issue is whether a
person is guilty of dowry death of a woman and the evidence discloses that immediately before her
death she was subjected by such person to cruelty and/or harassment for, or in connection with, any de-
mand for dowry. Section 113-B, Evidence Act provides that the court shall presume that such person
had caused the dowry death.

Under S. 113-B, when the question is whether a person has committed the dowry death of a woman, and
it is shown that, soon before her death she had been subjected by that person to cruelty or harassment in
connection with any demand for dowry, the Court shall presume that such a person had caused the
dowry death. (The term “dowry death” has the same meaning as in S. 504-B of the Indian Penal Code.)

S. 113-B raises a presumption of guilt against any person who has been proved to have subjected the de-
ceased woman, soon before her death, to cruelty or harassment, in connection with dowry. Needless to
state, it is a presumption intended to be raised against the husband and his relatives in the case of dowry
deaths, which have become increasingly common in India.
16

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. A STUDY ON PRESUMPTION OF DOWRY IN INDIAN EVIDENCE LAW

2. Medical Evidence in Dowry Deaths: An Evaluation by Indian Courts by Dipa dude
3. Dowry System as a Social Evil: A Study of India by fizana Ashraf Malik
4. Law, Custom, and Crimes against Women: The Problem of Dowry Death in India by JOHN
VAN WILLIGEN and V. C. CHANNA
5. DOWRY DEATHS : BURDEN OF PROOF by R. Deb
6. Presumption in dowry death to be backed by cruelty proof: Supreme Court - THE INDIAN
EXPRESS - this article , that was published in THE INDIAN EXPRESS

7. Dowry Death Shall Be Presumed If It Is Shown That Wife Was Harassed For Dowry Soon Be-
fore Death : Supreme Court - LIVE LAW. In
8. Cruelty to Women [S. 498-A IPC and allied sections by Tejaswi pandit - SCC ONLINE