In-Laws Keeping Young Child Away From Mother In Defiance Of Court Order Is Cruelty U/S 498A IPC: Bombay High Court

In a significant ruling, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court on Wednesday held that keeping a minor child away from the mother in defiance of a court order would amount to mental harassment and cruelty. A division bench of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Rohit Joshi refused to quash an FIR against the in-laws of a woman, after noting that her husband, the main accused, had been absconding. The bench noted that the husband had taken along with him, his four year old daughter, despite a clear order from a Family Court to hand over the child's custody to the complainant mother. "Keeping a young child of four years old away from her mother in defiance of Court order also amounts to mental harassment amounting to cruelty in as much as it would certainly cause grave injury to mental health of the complainant, the mother of the child. Such act of the in-laws amounts to cruelty within the meaning of explanation (a) to Section 498-A of IPC. We further record that the said mental harassment is continuing from day to day till date. It is a continuing wrong," the judges held. The bench was hearing petitions filed parents-in-laws and the sister-in-law of a woman, who sought to quash the FIR lodged against them on November 10, 2022. It was the complainant's case that her marriage took place on May 30, 2019. The couple had a daughter and at the time of filing of FIR, the child was 2 year old. In her complaint, the wife alleged that the husband demanded Rs 10 lakhs for purchasing a car and when the wife's family failed to fulfil the said demand, the husband, ill-treated her and even assaulted her. It was the allegation of the wife that her in-laws including her sister-in-law, too abused her for not fulfilling the demand of the husband. The bench noted that the petitioners, failed to spell out the whereabouts of the main accused, who has absconded along with the minor daughter, defying court order to hand over her custody to her mother. "A judicial order passed by the Competent Court of law is also not being obeyed. Although, the daughter is with husband, we have already recorded it that the applicants herein are assisting the husband in the sense that his whereabouts are not being disclosed," the judges said in the order. The bench even refused to accept the contention that the sister-in-law i.e. one of the accused petitioners was a specially abled person suffering from "schizophrenia.""Schizophrenia affects behavior of patient intermittently for certain duration of time. It is not a constant medical condition. We do not deem it appropriate to quash proceedings against her on the ground that she is allegedly suffering from schizophrenia," the judges said while refusing to quash the FIR. Appearance:Advocate Milind Deshpande appeared for the Petitioners. Additional Public Prosecutor GA Kulkarni represented the State.Advocate Hrishikesh Tunkar represented the Complainant Woman. Case Title: Rekha Waghmare vs State of Maharashtra (Criminal Application 2376 of 2023)Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Bom) 632Click Here To Read/Download The Judgement

In-Laws Keeping Young Child Away From Mother In Defiance Of Court Order Is Cruelty U/S 498A IPC: Bombay High Court

Narsi Benwal

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