Section 304-B of the Indian Penal Code

Description

Context: The Supreme Court indicated in a judgment that a literal interpretation of a penal provision on dowry death may have blunted the battle against the “long-standing social evil”.

Chief Justice of India called dowry harassment a “pestiferous” crime where women are subjected to cruelty by “covetous” husbands and in-laws.

Dowry deaths in India:

Dowry deaths accounted for 40% to 50% homicides in the country for almost a decade from 1999 to 2018.
In 2019 alone, 7,115 cases of dowry death were registered under Section 304-B of the Indian Penal Code.

Section 304-B of IPC:

To make out a case of dowry death, a woman should have died of burns or other bodily injuries or “otherwise than under normal circumstances” within seven years of her marriage.
She should have suffered cruelty or harassment from her husband or in-laws “soon before her death” in connection with demand for dowry.
- Over the years, courts had interpreted the phrase 'soon before' in Section 304-B as 'immediately before'.
- This interpretation would make it necessary for a woman to have been harassed moments before she died.
- Such “absurd” interpretations should be avoided, the apex court noted.
Section 304-B, IPC does not take a pigeonhole approach in categorising death as homicidal or suicidal or accidental.
The reason for such non-categorisation is due to the fact that death occurring in ‘other than under normal circumstances’ can, in cases, be homicidal or suicidal or accidental,”