Mumbai man, parents get 2-yr jail

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 16

A local court awarded two-year jail to a Mumbai resident and his parents in a dowry case.

Parveen Upadhya, his father Vijay Shankar and mother Hira Mani Upadhya were found guilty under Sections 406 (Punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). A fine of Rs 2,000 each was also imposed on the convicts. The case was lodged in June 2010.

As per the complaint of the victim, a Chandigarh resident, Parveen claimed to have a job. However, she came to know after marriage that he had lost his job. The victim, 25 years of age then, was a CS while Parveen had done engineering and MBA. Both pursued their LLB after marriage from an institute in Mumbai. The family continually demanded money and gold ornaments from the girl and her parents. 

The couple had got married on April 26, 2007. Four days later, Praveen asked his wife to hand over all ornaments her family had gifted her. The vicitim stayed with them from April to October 2007. She stated that she was repeatedly harassed as her in-laws for bringing less dowry and asked her to tell her parents to give Rs 10 lakh. Later, Parveen got another job and demanded “a big car” to go to office and asked his wife to tell her parents to provide one. 

The complainant stated that she was forced to take up a job and give the salary to her in-laws. The victim claimed that her in-laws physically assaulted her and locked her in a room without food until she agreed to their terms. She was thrown out of house in October and she spent a night at a railway station. Parveen picked her up from the platform the next morning after which they started living at his sister’s house where the victim provided money for her sister-in-law and her husband. 

In March 2008, she came back to Chandigarh. The family arranged a sum of Rs 1.25 lakh and gave it to Praveen on a promise that their daughter will not be harassed any more. 

On June 18, 2009, Parveen told his wife that she would have to ask her father to pay them if he wanted to see his daughter alive. The girl stated that her in-laws wanted her to divorce Parveen so that he could marry another girl.