Supreme Court: Husband Is Liable For Wife's Injuries In A Matrimonial Home

GENERAL OVERVIEW

• The Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed a petition of anticipatory bail filed by the accused, after looking into the medical evidence brought by complainant.
• Accused man's representative claimed before the Apex Court that it was the woman's father in law that assaulted her with a blunt object, not the husband.
• The Supreme Court contended on Monday, that it doesn't matter who commits the action, and that as long as a woman is under matrimonial home, the husband is primarily liable to answer for injuries sustained by his wife.

FURTHER DETAILS

As per reports, this marriage was the man's third marriage, and the woman's second. A year after they were married, a child was born to them in the year 2018. Last year (2020), she filed a complaint with the Ludhiana police against her husband and his family- her mother in law and father in law, after they abused and accused her for not reaching up to their growing demands of dowry. It was in the month of June, when her husband and father in law approached the complainant (wife) with a cricket bat, to beat her senseless, and without mercy. As per her complaint, her mother in law participated in this brutality as well, soon after which the husband tried to strangulate her and her father in law tried to suffocate her with a pillow over her face, with an intention to kill. She was thrown out on the road, after which she informed her own father and brother of this incident. She got herself treated with the help of her father and brother, while also availing a medico legal report (MLR).

CURRENT SCENARIO

After considering the medical report (MLR), the Punjab and Haryana High Court stated, "the complainant's MLR reveals as many as ten (10) injuries on her person including five on her head/face, one on her vagina, and multiple reddish bruises of varying sizes around her neck. Eight of the ten injuries are medically opined to have been inflicted by a blunt weapon." The High Court also added that "the above injuries and the medical opinion with regard to eight of them having been inflicted with a blunt weapon give prima facie credence to the allegations by the complainant with regard to the petitioner (husband) having attempted to murder her by strangulation and of beating her with a cricket bat (a blunt weapon)." The husband's counsel insisted in requesting the man's anticipatory bail. After reading through the complaint, the High Court refused to grant anticipatory bail to the husband/petitioner. "What kind of a man are you? She (wife) alleges that you were about to kill her by strangulation. She alleges that you forced a miscarriage. What kind of man are you to use a cricket bat to beat up your wife?" The Supreme Court Bench, led by CJI S A Bobde responded to Khusagra Mahajan's (husband's counsel) persistence. Mahajan went on to contend that it was the husband's father who assaulted the woman with a cricket bat, and not the husband himself. The Bench responded to this by stating "it does not matter who allegedly used to bat to assault her. When injuries are inflicted on a woman in a matrimonial home, the primary liability is on the husband."

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