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NOT ME: Indian Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh says he has nothing to do with the dowry harassment case involving his grandson Abhijeet. -- PHOTO: AFP
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LUCKNOW (INDIA) - INDIAN police are investigating allegations that a federal minister and his family beat up his grandson's wife in an attempt to extract a Mercedes and an apartment as part of the wedding dowry.
Mr Arjun Singh, Minister for Human Resource Development, has denied being involved in the matter. But the allegations have embarrassed the government, which has repeatedly highlighted the need to tackle the still-prevalent custom of giving dowries.
'It is a case of dowry harassment,' said Mr Prem Prakash, the senior police officer handling the case in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where the complaint was filed.
The minister's involvement was only 'indirect', Mr Prakash said, but the minister was included in the complaint along with the groom's entire immediate family.
The family of the bride, Ms Priyanka, alleged that she was beaten by some of her in-laws after an argument over the dowry earlier this month.
'My daughter was tortured and beaten up black and blue by her husband and in-laws who used to demand more dowry,' Mr Madhvendra Singh, the bride's father, said.
'I am not that rich. I had spent around 5 million rupees (S$188,000) in marriage. I was not in a position to spend more money to meet their demands.'
The giving and taking of dowries is banned in India, and is punishable by up to five years' imprisonment.
Some prisons even have special wings for mothers convicted of killing their daughters-in-law over dowries.
But dowry payments are often described as wedding gifts, making prosecution difficult. Activists characterise the law as 'ornamental' and rarely enforced.
The bride's relatives said they visited the minister last month to ask him to intervene in the growing dispute, but that he refused to get involved. The relatives nevertheless included his name in their harassment case.
Dowry cases are often filed against the groom and all his immediate relatives, on the assumption that they are jointly responsible.
Mr Arjun Singh emphasised that he had played no part in the marriage of his grandson, Mr Abhijeet Singh, and had no connection with the alleged harassment.
'I have nothing to do with it. My opinion was sidelined at the wedding,' he told reporters.
The minister's family has denied any wrongdoing, insisting the charges have been filed in retaliation for their attempt to seek a divorce.
They did not say why they wanted a divorce.
Mr Abhijeet married Ms Priyanka last year but within months the couple broke up and Ms Priyanka returned to her parents' home, alleging that she had been physically abused.
Her father said he tried to file charges with the police but was rebuffed because the police did not want to open a case against a high-profile politician.
He then went to a judge, who ordered a police investigation.
The governing Congress party, to which Mr Arjun Singh belongs, has so far tried to downplay the incident.
'Let us wait for the facts,' party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.
ASSOCIATED PRESS, NEW YORK TIMES
DOWRY DEMANDS
'My daughter was tortured and beaten up black and blue by her husband and in-laws who used to demand more dowry. I am not that rich. I had spent around 5 million rupees (S$188,000) in marriage. I was not in a position to spend more money to meet their demands.'
MR MADHVENDRA SINGH, the bride's father, on the alleged abuse of his daughter
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