Man jailed for 3 years for harassing second wife in Delhi

New Delhi, April 20: A man, who was earlier held guilty for harassing his first wife, has been sentenced to three years in jail by a Delhi court for cruelly treating his second wife.

Metropolitan Magistrate Shefali Barnala Tandon awarded the jail term to the man, a resident of Jahangirpuri in north west Delhi, and said it was clear that to save himself from the clutches of law, he had compromised with his wife many a times, but continued to commit cruelty upon her.

However, the court, which also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the man, suspended his sentence for a month to enable him file an appeal against the judgement.

"As far as accused husband is concerned, there has been clear and specific allegations of harassment and constant cruelty committed upon the complainant by him. There has been instances of mental cruelty committed upon the complainant by the man," the court said, adding that the wife compromised many a times but continued to meet the same fate.

The court also observed that the man committed cruelty by spreading false rumours about her extra-marital affair with her colleague.

The court however acquitted the man's mother and two sisters of the charges of harassing the woman and breaching her trust on the ground that there were vague allegations of harassment and cruelty levelled against them.

According to the prosecution, the woman had lodged a case in 1999 alleged that her husband and in-laws used to harass her and treat her cruelly by making dowry demands for TV, air conditioner, car and other articles. She had married the man in January 1995 and two kids were born to them.

She alleged that her husband and in-laws had tried to strangulate her in 1996 after which she had left them and started living at her parental home. Her husband had come to her several times and also compromised, but he again started harassing her and demanding money, it said.

The woman said she had later came to know that the man was already married before her marriage with him and a criminal case was pending against him and his family members. In 2000, the man had been convicted by another court in the harassment case filed by his first wife. During trial, the accused denied the allegations levelled against him.

PTI