While denying the anticipatory bail to the man, Supreme Court on Monday observed that a husband is fully answerable if the wife sustains injuries in her matrimonial home.
The bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde rejected the bail petition filed by a man accused of assaulting his wife. Earlier, his bail plea was rejected by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The counsel appearing for the accused argued before the apex court that the woman was assaulted with the bat by her father-in-law and not her husband.
Replying back to the contention, the bench asked, “What kind of a man are you? It does not matter whether it was you who had used to bat to assault her. When injuries are inflicted on a woman in a matrimonial home, the primary liability is on the husband.”
As per the sources, the couple got married in 2018 and has a child. In June 2020, the woman had lodged a complaint with the Ludhiana police station against her husband and in-laws. She alleged that they have brutally assaulted her for fulfilling the dowry demands.
The complainant has also alleged that her husband even tried to strangulate her to death and forced a miscarriage. Following the assault, the man and his family ousted her. Taking note of the incident, her family rushed to the spot and took her to the nearby hospital. A medico-legal case was reported.
Punjab and Haryana High Court had denied the pre-arrest bail to the accused taking note of the medical evidence and noted, “The complainant’s MLR reveals as many as ten injuries on her including five on her head/face, on her vagina and multiple reddish bruises of varying sizes around her neck.”
