KOCHI: A woman from Angamaly has come out against an Italy-based Non Resident Keralite (NRK) accusing him of duping her of Rs 39 lakh from her daughter and herself and after promising to marry the girl. But, her contention -- that the money was paid to the accused after believing his marriage promise -- did not go down well with a local court which said that if the complainant had given money with a hope that the accused would marry her daughter then it could be considered as a dowry payment which is unlawful.
Granting anticipatory bail to accused Sharon Joseph, 31, of Munambam in Ernakulam, the sessions court said that the contention of the complainant prima facie shows that she had advanced money to the accused in violation of Dowry Prohibition Act.
Dowry Prohibition Act has provision to punish not only those who demand dowry, but also those who offer and make payment of dowry. “When viewed in the light of the incident, the amount which the complainant is said to have advanced was for an unlawful purpose and hence she cannot attribute the offence of cheating or criminal breach of trust to the accused regarding such a payment made to him,” the court said, adding, only after considering the evidence during the trial that it will be able to decide whether cheating and criminal breach of trust had occurred in the case.
Sharon had moved the court seeking anticipatory bail after a case was registered against him for cheating and criminal breach of trust at Angamaly police station on March 4 based on the complaint lodged by the woman who alleged that Sharon obtained an amount of Rs 39 lakh from her and her daughter during 2018-2022 under the false promise that he will marry the daughter. But, he retracted and married another woman without repaying the borrowed amount.
Submitting he was falsely implicated in the case, Sharon submitted before the court that he had only borrowed an amount of Rs 12 lakh from the complainant and it was repaid with interest. He also denied that he had offered to marry the woman’s daughter.