KAMINI SAHUANI Vs. PURNA CHANDRA SAHOO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiff in Money Suit No. 139 of 1971 of the Court of Subordinate Judge, Berhampur is the appellant challenging the legality of the judgement and decree passed in the said suit.

(2.) The suit was for recovery of articles or in the alternative the price thereof amounting to Rs. 16,440.05 paise with future interest. Admittedly the plaintiff is the legally married wife of defendant No. 1. Defendant No. 2 is the father, defendant No. 3 is the mother and defendant No. 4 is the brother of defendant No. 1. The plaintiff's case is that, she married defendant No. 1 about two years prior to the date of the suit as per their caste custom and she was presented with various articles including gold and silver ornaments, partly worn on her person and partly kept in her hand box which were taken with her when she was sent to the house of defendant No. 1. All these articles, which were taken by her as dowry, the details of which have been given in schedule 'A' of the plaint, were kept in the house and custody of defendant No. 1.

(3.) According to the plaintiff the defendants were not satisfied with the extent of dowry taken by her and began ill-treating her in several ways in order to extract more dowry. The plaintiff alleges that her life became miserable and the situation deteriorated gradually. Her living there became unsafe and her father was intimated about this. The father of the plaintiff then approached defendants 1 and 2 to send the plaintiff to his house. They agreed on condition that the plaintiff would give in writing that the marriage stood dissolved and she would not return to the house of the defendants thereafter and the defendants 1 and 2 would be paid a sum of Rs. 20,000/- by the plaintiffs father which they had spent for the marriage of the defendant No. 1. It was not possible to agree with the aforesaid conditions and consequently the plaintiff had to continue in the house of the defendants as before. She has further alleged that even though she was doing all that was possible to be done to please her husband and defendant No. 2 with the hope that their attitude towards her would change in course of time, she was ultimately disappointed. During the night of 7-8-1970 the defendants assaulted the plaintiff by slaps, lathis and by touching her person with hot iron rods and drove her out of the house. She was made to sit outside the house in a pitiable condition. On being informed, the plaintiffs brother came, with whom the plaintiff left for her father's house where she was treated and cured. This incident was reported at the Police station on 8-8-1970 and the father of the plaintiff had also sent a registered notice to defendants 1 and 2 on 15-8-1970. Defendant No. 2 gave a reply to the aforesaid notice on 20-8-70 making all sorts of false allegations. They also instituted a complaint case against the plaintiff and her brother alleging that they had stolen some properties from the house of defendants 1 and 2. It has also been mentioned in the plaint that the plaintiff has started a proceeding for maintenance in the Court of Sub-divisional Magistrate, Berhampur against the defendants.