NRI awarded 4 months RI in dowry case

CHENNAI: Taking a lenient view, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court has imposed the minimum punishment of rigorous imprisonment for four months for an offence under the Dowry Prohibition Act on an engineer, working in Australia.P Sivakumar submitted that during the pendency of the case, he got divorce from his wife. The wife got re-married and now has a child. He also got married with another woman and is having a five-month-old child. A BE degree holder, he is working as a project manager in Sathyam Computers in Sydney. He will lose his job if convicted and there is nobody to look after his elderly parents residing in Nagercoil. Hence, a lenient view may be taken, Sivakumar submitted.His mother Padma said that she was 58 years old, had undergone surgeries on four occasions for her uterus problem and that she was suffering from diabetes and blood-pressure and that a lenient view may be taken.His father A Padmanabhan stated that he was 71 years old, suffering from liver cancer, besides diabetes and blood pressure.Even though a minimum sentence of six months is prescribed under the provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act, bearing in mind the above-said circumstances, Justice S Palanivelu observed that he is imposing a lesser sentence of four months RI on the three accused and the same will meet the ends of justice. The period of sentence already undergone by the father and mother shall be set off from the sentence now imposed by this court, the judge added.The judge was passing orders on a criminal appeal from the DSP, Kanyakumari district, challenging the orders of the trial court, acquitting all of them from the charges.Sivakumar got married to S Beula in 2003. He was given `3 lakh in cash. FDs valued at `10 lakh, 1-1/2 kg gold, a Ford Ikon car and household articles worth about `3 lakh were also given. As Beula was subjected to cruelty both physically and mentally by demanding an additional `1 crore as dowry, she lodged a complaint with the police. The trial magistrate, however, acquitted all the accused by an order dated January 31, 2008. Hence, the present appeal from the Kanyakumari DSP.