NEW DELHI: The unnatural deaths of young married women require prompt and serious investigation by the police, the Delhi High Court said, and expressed dismay over the eight-month delay in registering an FIR by the Delhi Police in the dowry death case.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma made these remarks while denying anticipatory bail to the husband and his in-laws in a dowry death case of a 25-year-old woman within six months of marriage.
The judge observed that the registration of the FIR in this case “took longer than the entire duration of her marriage” and it was an “unfortunate fact” that the father of the deceased was forced to “run from pillar to post” before the FIR could be registered under a judicial order.
Noting that the consequences of delaying an FIR cannot be overlooked lightly, the court expressed the hope that applications seeking directions for registration of FIRs in cases of unnatural deaths of young women soon after wedding would in future be considered with “greater urgency” by the judicial courts, especially when there are allegations of dowry-related harassment.
In the current case, the husband informed the deceased’s father on July 2, 2025, that his daughter was in the hospital after falling down the stairs. However, upon arriving at the hospital, the father suspected foul play.
It later became clear that the deceased committed suicide after hanging herself in the marital home. While the deceased succumbed to her injuries on July 3, 2025, the FIR was registered on February 13 as directed by the district court.
“Another case of a young girl who lost her life within six months of marriage. In the view of this court, once the parents of the deceased raised suspicions against her husband and in-laws, in a case relating to the death of a young married woman within a few months of marriage, the court in its judgment on June 1 observed that the matter required a prompt and effective response from the investigating agency,” it said.
“The consequences of such delay in lodging an FIR cannot be brushed aside. It is clear that cases involving the unnatural death of a young married woman require prompt and diligent investigation by the police authorities. Every passing day brings with it the prospect of loss or disappearance of evidence, fading of memory of witnesses and erosion of other evidentiary material which may help in discovering the truth,” the court stated.
The husband and his in-laws sought pre-arrest bail on the basis of the delay in filing the FIR and that the father of the deceased had not made any “detailed and specific allegations” in his first statement submitted to the Executive Magistrate.
However, the court noted in the order that the complainant father had given his statement before the Executive Magistrate on the same day when his daughter was “lying dead in the morgue” and expected him to narrate every instance of cruelty or dowry demand “detached from the facts of human behaviour”.
The court observed, “Neither the law nor the courts can be so insensitive as to deny grieving parents even the time and space to grieve the sudden death of their daughter, before they are expected to narrate each allegation accurately and completely. The law cannot require of grieving parents, in the immediate aftermath of such a tragedy, the composure of a trained investigator or the recollection of a carefully prepared complaint.”
The court further said that the record prima facie reflects that although the father of the deceased took steps to notify the authorities of the matter as soon as possible, no action was taken, resulting in a case being filed in a district court, where his confession again remained pending “for a long period of time”.
“The system took nearly nine months to register the FIR, resulting in the petitioners pleading for grant of bail due to this delay. However, the cry for justice and adherence to law for delivery of justice cannot be sacrificed on the altar of delay caused by the investigative system,” the court observed.
“It is the hope of this Court that in future applications seeking directions to register an FIR, in relation to the unnatural death of a young woman within a short period of marriage, particularly where allegations of dowry-related harassment have been raised and the police have failed to register an FIR, should be taken up with urgency by the courts and listed on shorter dates so that the question of registration of FIR and initiation of investigation is not left unresolved for several months together.”
The court said in this case that the investigation is at an early stage and it cannot be said that custodial investigation of the husband and in-laws of the deceased is unjustified.
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