New Delhi, Jun 3 The Delhi High Court has said unnatural death of young married women demands prompt and diligent police investigation, as it expressed displeasure over a delay of eight months in registration of an FIR by Delhi Police in a dowry death case.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma made the observations while denying anticipatory bail to the husband and in-laws in a dowry death case of a 25-year-old woman within six months of marriage.
The judge remarked that the registration of the FIR in this case "took more time than the entire duration of her marriage" and it was an "unfortunate reality" that the deceased's father was made to "run from pillar to post" before the FIR was registered pursuant to a judicial order.
Stating that the consequences of delaying an FIR cannot be brushed aside lightly, the court hoped that in future, applications seeking directions for registration of FIR in cases of unnatural death of young women shortly after the wedding shall be taken up with "greater urgency" by magisterial courts, especially when there are allegations of dowry-related harassment.
In the present case, the husband informed the deceased's father on July 2, 2025, that his daughter was in a hospital after she fell from stairs. However, upon reaching the hospital, the father suspected foul play.
It was subsequently found that the deceased died by suicide after she hung herself in the matrimonial home. While the deceased succumbed to her injuries on July 3, 2025, the FIR was registered on February 13 pursuant to the directions of a magisterial court.
"Yet another case of a young girl having lost her life within six months of the marriage. In this Court's view, once the deceased's parents had raised suspicion against her husband and in-laws, in a case involving the death of a young married woman within a few months of marriage, the matter required a prompt and effective response from the investigating agency," the court observed in the judgement passed on June 1.
"The consequences of such delay in lodging the FIR cannot be lightly brushed aside. Cases involving the unnatural death of a young married woman clearly demand prompt and diligent investigation by the police authorities. Every passing day carries the possibility of loss or disappearance of evidence, fading of witnesses' memory and erosion of other evidentiary material that may assist in discovering the truth," stated the court.
The husband and the in-laws sought pre-arrest bail on the grounds of the delay in lodging the FIR and that the deceased's father did not level any "specific elaborate allegations" in his first statement given to the executive magistrate.
In the order, the court, however, noted that the complainant father made the statement to the executive magistrate on the same day when his daughter was "lying dead in the mortuary," and expecting him to recount every instance of cruelty or dowry demand was "detached from the realities of human conduct."
"Neither the law nor the courts can be so insensitive as to deny bereaved parents, even the time and space to grieve over the untimely death of their daughter, before expecting them to narrate every allegation with precision and completeness.. The law cannot demand from a bereaved parent, in the immediate aftermath of such a tragedy, the composure of a trained investigator or the recollection of a meticulously prepared complainant," the court remarked.
The court further said that the record prima facie reflected that despite the deceased's father taking steps to bring the matter to the notice of the authorities at the earliest, no action was taken, which led to him filing a case before a magisterial court, where, again, his plea remained pending for a "considerable period of time".
"The system took almost nine months to register an FIR, resulting in plea by the applicants to grant bail due to such delay. However, the cry for justice and the obligation of law to do justice cannot be sacrificed at the altar of the delay caused by the investigating system," observed the court.
"This court hopes that, in future, applications seeking directions for registration of FIR, concerning the unnatural death of a young woman within a short period of marriage, particularly where allegations of dowry-related harassment are raised and the police fail to register an FIR, shall be taken up with greater urgency by the Courts and be listed on shorter dates so that the issue of registration of FIR and commencement of investigation is not left unresolved for months together," it stated.
The court said in this case, the investigation was at a nascent stage and custodial investigation of the husband and the in-laws of the deceased could not be said to be unwarranted.
