Territorial jurisdiction not binding in acts against women at many places

Mumbai: Holding that crimes against women at multiple places are not affected by territorial jurisdiction, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court has allowed a Jalna trial court to try the case of a woman who complained of harassment and torture by her in-laws in Anand, Gujarat.

The order was passed by the court while hearing a criminal application filed by the in-laws seeking quashing of the FIR and chargesheet filed against them by their daughter-in-law who lives with her husband in Jalna, which is also her mother’s hometown.

A division bench of Justices S. S. Shinde and K. K. Sonawane was hearing the application of Kailashben, Mahendrabhai and Rahul Patel and their employee Vijay Patel seeking quashing of FIR filed by them at Sadar Bazar Police Station at Jalna on the grounds that there was no basis for the allegations made by their daughter-in-law Nimisha Patel and as they lived in Karamsad in Anand, Gujarat the FIR filed against them could not be tried in Jalna.

According to the FIR filed by Nimisha Patel, she was married to Niraj, the son of Mahendrabhai and had gone to Jalna (her mothers house) for delivery of their first child. After a girl was born, Kailashben, Niraj’s step-mother visited her and scolded and threatened her saying she and Niraj would not get any share in the property Mahendrabhai’s property as she had borne a girl.

Later she went back to the house of her in-laws to Gujarat where they continued to taunt, harass and mentally torture her. The behaviour of the in-laws did not change even after a son was born to her at Jalna and she received threats similar to the one she had received when the daughter was born.