The Kerala High Court on Wednesday said it was not going to be swayed by ''media reports or chat shows'' when deciding whether to grant bail to the husband and parents-in-law of a 21-year-old law student, who committed suicide and left behind a note blaming them and a police officer for taking the extreme step.
Thiruvananthapuram:
The court's remarks came after the Public Prosecutor opposed granting bail to the three accused so that a strong message is sent to society.
Disagreeing with the submission, Justice Gopinath P said that a message will go to society only after their conviction.
The court said that the accused have not yet been convicted and that they being in jail presently ''was not a punishment'', but rather it was only to ''aid the investigation''.
It said it will be able to hear the matter properly only after the Christmas vacation and listed it for hearing on January 3, 2022.
The victim's husband and in-laws were arrested on November 24 and a case registered against them under Sections 304B (dowry death), 498A (dowry harassment), 306 (abetment of suicide) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
While the maximum punishment for dowry death is life imprisonment, it is three years' jail term for dowry harassment and 10 years for abetment of suicide.
In her suicide note, Mofia Parveen, the third year law student, had alleged that the then SHO of Aluva East Police Station had misbehaved with her when she went there with her father to give her statement regarding her complaint of dowry harassment and domestic violence against her husband and in-laws.
The incident had created an uproar in the state and the officer was relieved of his charge and later suspended.
According to Mofia's father, he went to the station with his daughter to give her statement and she had made it clear before going there that she did not want her submission to be recorded in her husband's presence.
However, the officer spoke to them in her husband's presence and also spoke inappropriately and rudely to him and his daughter, the father told a news channel and added that it was the officer's conduct which demoralised her.
After returning home, she was worried whether police would take any action in view of the officer's conduct at the station, the father of the student had claimed and said that she hanged herself in her room later on the same day.
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