Husband refuses to self-inflict injuries, denied bail

NEW DELHI - The Delhi High Court Monday refused bail to a man, accused of harassing and beating his wife for dowry, after he refused to inflict injuries on himself similar to those found on his wife which he alleged were “self-inflicted”.

Arjun, a lawyer, told the court he would prove his innocence without it also.

But vacation bench of Justice S.N.Dhingra was not impressed by his submission and denied anticipatory bail to him.

During the hearing of his bail petition Wednesday, Arjun alleged that his wife Neha had slapped a false dowry harassment case on him and the injuries on her were self-inflicted, as no incident of beating her ever took place in their house.

Taking strong exception to the husband’s claim, the court directed Arjun to appear before the station house officer (SHO) of his local Prashant Vihar police station Thursday and inflict similar injuries on his body as found on his wife’s body.

Arjun and Neha were married April 16, 2007. They have a daughter.

On Oct 24, 2008, Neha lodged a complaint of dowry harassment against Arjun which was converted into a first information report (FIR) Sep 8 last year.

Arjun’s anticipatory bail was rejected by the trial court last month.