New Delhi: Delhi High Court recently stressed the need to balance action against dowry harassment while protecting the rights of innocent people implicated only due to a distant relation with the accused.The court was hearing a plea by a niece, one of six named in an FIR alleging abuse, harassment, cruelty, and dowry demands. She sought quashing of the FIR.Justice Ajay Digpaul, hearing the matter on Sept 26, said dowry harassment and cruelty strike at the sanctity of marriage and must be dealt seriously. “However, the attempt to rid society of these evils must be balanced with the rights of those innocents who may be roped into the dispute purely by distant association with the accused through blood”, he added.Allegations against the niece include her involvement in the destruction of CCTV cameras in the complainant’s marital home, as well as the locking up of furniture, actions intended to inconvenience the complainant. The complainant’s counsel raised no objection to the quashing. He added that the complainant did not wish to pursue the case against her since she was only 18 and was coping with her father’s death at the time of the incident.
