In April, a Hyderabad High Court judge Justice Nooty Ramamohana Rao was charged along with his wife and son for harassing his daughter-in-law for dowry. However, the ordeal didn't seem to come to an end for the victim after a distressing video made its rounds on social media. A CCTV footage showed three accused beating up a young woman.
The video showed the victim, Sindhu Sharma, being escorted into the room by her husband and in-laws. She was then pushed onto the sofa and was brutally beaten up and dragged across the floor by her husband, Vashista, in front of her toddler.
In the video you can see the retired Chief Justice of Tamil Nadu Justice Nooty Ram Mohan Rao bashing and manhandling his daughter in law with the support of his wife and son. pic.twitter.com/WZFEkRpbGS
— Pandit Ji (@panditjipranam) September 20, 2019
While the video went viral on Friday, Sindhu had already filed a case against her husband and in-laws in April after she was beaten up very brutally.
She had recently decided to release the videos about her harassment.
"I have a few more videos in which my father-in-law is seen dragging and assaulting me. I was never interested in sharing the videos, as I wanted to reconcile with my husband. I also had to keep in mind the interest of my children," Sindhu told Times of India, adding that she had more videos as evidence.
Explaining why she decided to release the videos now, Sindhu said, "Three days ago, I received a divorce notice with a plea that I should in appear in the Nampally family court. After this, I decided to share the video."
On April 26, The Women Police Station registered cases under section 498 (A) (Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of IPC and section 4 and 6 of Dowry Prohibition Act against the three accused.
"My husband used to assault me frequently and make demands for dowry. Like other abusive marriages, I would bear the violence. That night, my in-laws, kids and my husband had gone for a movie. They came back at night and my husband came to the room upstairs where I was sleeping and started assaulting me, saying he wasn't getting promoted in his job because of me," Sindhu told the media.
She went on to say that even the house help joined in and began hitting her. Only later, she was taken to Apollo Hospital in Jubilee Hills for treatment.
The police told India TV, "What we have seen in the video, Sindhu Sharma already told us in her statement. But this will serve as documentary evidence. As far as the status of the case is concerned, only serving a notice under Section 41 CrPC to Nooty Ramamohana Rao was left. The next hearing is scheduled for September 23. We were planning to request the magistrate for orders to visit the accused's house and seize the CCTV footage, to help us while filing the charge sheet, but now that these videos have surfaced, we will go ahead and submit the same in court and proceed with the investigation."
The police are now hoping that new charges under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) or 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code will be added to the existing case.
