Indian Police on dowry complaints: Shoot first, talk later

Today’s news story of Bangalore techie Shubhankar Katyayan is heart-rending of how cruel people will not stop at anything, and literally will kill the ‘golden husband’ they set out to exploit like the proverbial ‘golden goose’ story.

Treated cruelly by wife, techie ends life

Now read the pertinent information from the story:

Shubhankar’s lawyer Anand said the divorce petition (MC1732/09) was filed on June 24, 2009. In the judicial separation petition posted for hearing on January 1, 2010, Nandini had claimed Purunjay’s custody and return of all gifts she received at her wedding.

On July 14, Nandini’s mother Anmana Jha lodged a complaint with the Commercial Street police, alleging that Shubhankar, demanding dowry, had assaulted and attempted to kill her daughter. A number of criminal cases were also lodged against him. He was arrested and produced at the magistrate’s court on July 19.

If you read what I have read, following are the facts:

Date of filing of mutual divorce petition: 24 Jun 2009
Date of filing of criminal complaints including dowry demand: 14 Jul 2009

The police and crime investigation system is so blind as to ignore the fact why would a person having filed MUTUAL divorce petition ask for dowry after that. Since he has no lever of control over his wife/in-laws, how will such dowry demand sustain a test of logic.

Or the reality is that police acts on dowry complaints like the proverbial James Bond: “Shoots first, talks later”.