Hello to all the experts here.
I am currently facing charges u/s 306 and 498A. It’s at a very early stage so I am hoping to get some valuable advice from everyone here. This is the story.
I am a 34 years old adult Indian male. I am the only son of my parents. In July 2012 I met my prospective wife in office. Both of us worked at a reputed MNC in Bangalore at that time. We had an affair and decided to get married. She was 28 years of age that time. However, since we belonged to two completely different communities her family opposed the marriage very strongly while my family was in support. We however, did not give in and on 6th December 2012 we went ahead with the registered marriage without informing our families. After a few days her family, though reluctant, agreed to the marriage. Her family consisted of two younger sisters, both working in MNCs, her mother who is a homemaker and father who works abroad. Anyway once they agreed we thought it was our duty to inform them of our court marriage which again sent flames throughout the family. However, we managed to convince them and they agreed for a traditional marriage when her father would come to India sometime in June 2013. She was to stay at her maternal home till then which was agreed.
On 14th February 2013 my wife decided to come and stay with me for a couple of days. Her mother came to know of this and both her parents created a huge argument with her and she packed her bags and left their home for good and started staying with me because she was my legally married wife. After a few days I got an excellent opportunity in an extremely reputed MNC in Mumbai. An offer which I couldn’t refuse. So my wife and I decided that we will leave our jobs at Bangalore and go to Mumbai. Her parents had calmed down by then and talks of the traditional marriage started again. On 1st June 2013 I moved to Mumbai alone while my wife was serving the notice period in her company and also preparing for the traditional wedding scheduled for 21st June.
I came back to Bangalore and on 21st June 2013 a small temple wedding was done in presence of both families and a few relatives followed by a reception on 23rd June 2013. My wife and I finally left for Mumbai on 1st July 2013. Once my wife was in Mumbai she started looking for jobs. As she had completed MBA in Finance we were certain that she would easily find a job in the financial capital of our country. However, that was not to be. It was getting increasingly difficult for her get a job. I realized that she was lonely throughout the day while was away at work so we decided to get a puppy. She loved the puppy dearly. Towards the end of July 2013 my mother-in-law came to visit us and she was overjoyed to see her daughter happy. In August her youngest sister came to visit us. In September my wife wanted to two more puppies which I got her. I don’t mind pets because I love dogs too. In October 2013 her father came to Bangalore so we went to stay with them for a couple of days. Then end of November her second sister came to stay with us for a couple of days.
While all this was happening we were facing a different problem from the society members of our building where they were pressurizing us to get rid of the dogs saying pets were not allowed which is ridiculous because my wife had taken permission from the society manager before I had got the first dog. Anyways unable manage the pressure I decided to give away the dog. Though my wife was unhappy she agreed. I knew deep down she was still depressed about not being able to find a job because she was a very independent girl. I reassured her that once I complete one year in this company we will go back to Bangalore and settle back there.
On 6th December 2013 we celebrated our first wedding anniversary in a grand way in one of Mumbai’s top restaurants. When she came back home that day she was very happy and posted a lot of photos on social networking site. The next day was a Saturday so I was at home and had to give away one of the dogs. We agreed to give for adoption to a family in Mumbai itself. She was absolutely normal and fine on that day. At 1:30PM both of us went nearby where we met the family and gave away the dog. After that she started crying and said that she wanted the dog back. She called the family whom we gave the dog and asked them to return but they refused. She was very depressed and crying. I made her some coffee (she loved coffee). I explained to her that if we get the dog back the society members will cause a problem again. Anyways finally she said that she needed some time alone so I went out and decided to call the family myself and ask to return the dog. I spoke to them for 10 minutes and after some pursuing they agreed to give the dog back the next day.
I returned home to inform my wife that her favorite dog would be back the next day. I realized that I didn’t have the home keys so I rang the bell. There was no response. I initially thought she was taking a shower, however, after it was almost 15 minutes I thought she may be upset and has gone out to cool off. I called her several time but she didn’t reply. I was sure she had gone out. So I decided to find a key maker to open the house and wait for her inside rather than outside as I knew she would come back once she had calmed down. She had once in the past done something similar of leaving the house when she was upset but came back after sometime.
It took me almost 45 mins to find the key maker as it was quite late in the evening. The key maker stared working on the door while I kept calling her as I was beginning to start worrying. Finally, the key maker opened the main door. I had to pay him so I wanted to get into the bedroom to get my wallet but found that the bedroom door was locked. This was the first time this had happened. I knew she was inside but why wouldn’t she open the door for so long? I called out to her but didn’t get any response. I asked the key maker to open the bedroom door as well. As soon as the door was opened he was shocked and so was I. My wife had killed herself by hanging from the ceiling fan.
I was frantic and somehow managed to get her down, I called the house owner who suggested I call the police. Anyways, the following day her family reached Mumbai. They seemed a little hostile but I didn’t mind knowing that they were in a shock of losing their young daughter. The police had already taken my statement the previous night itself at the hospital after the incident. So they asked me to come the following day to finish the paperwork. That night my mom also reached Mumbai from Kolkata.
The following day my mom and I were at the police station where her statement was being recorded and suddenly my in laws barged in and started accusing me for the mishap. After a short while they decided to file a complaint. The police took almost eight hours to file the complaint. In the complaint they mentioned things like:
1. I used to harass her and took money from her.
2. Her mother had given her 1 lakh to pay for the house rent deposit when we were moving to Mumbai. She gave that money to me which used for the rent deposit. I had clearly mentioned to my mother-in-law that I didn’t need any money. They took up this incident saying that I asked for dowry. My monthly salary is close to Rs. 70000, why would I take dowry of 1 lakh.
3. They also said that I didn’t allow my wife to interact with her parents which is false because after coming to Mumbai every month there was someone from her house who would come and stay with us for a few days.
The police booked me u/s 306 and 498A and arrested the next day. I was the only one arrested not my parents because they never stayed with us. I have been granted bail after 55 days in Thane jail.
The chargesheet has not yet been filed even though it’s been over 90 days from the date of arrest.
Please suggest the merit of this case. Where do I stand? I would also like to mention that my advocate is one of Mumbai’s top Criminal lawyers.
Any advice or suggestion will be highly appreciated.
