Held for abetting wife's suicide, Canadian national gets bail

Aug 6, 2010

NEW DELHI: A Canadian national of Indian origin, who was arrested last year for allegedly abetting the suicide of his wife, has been granted bail by a trial court.


"Without making any observations on merits of the case and keeping in view the fact that all the witnesses have been examined by the court and the accused has been in judicial custody since September 2009, I admit the bail of Pawan Dass,'' additional sessions judge Kamini Lau said, while directing the accused to report to the SHO of the police station every month till the conclusion of the trial.

Earlier, seeking bail, Dass's counsel Prabhjit Jauhar said that the accused was falsely implicated in the case. Victim Richa committed suicide on April 4, 2004 by hanging herself. According to the victim's family, the girl took the extreme step under frustration that she had been left behind by her husband. Pawan Dass got married to Richa Saproo on December 11, 2003 in the capital. After getting married, Dass left for Canada in January, 2004.

Dass's counsel, however, alleged that Dass kept on sending money through Western Union Money transfer on various occasions and also deposited money for applying for immigration of Richa to Canada in 2004. In fact, an interview call was received from the Canadian Immigration authorities for immigration of Richa at Delhi.

Accepting the contentions of the accused, the court granted bail on the condition that Dass deposits his passport to the police. The court directed him not to leave the country without the prior permission of the court.

A case was registered against Dass under Section 498A and 306 IPC for having abetted the suicide of the deceased. Pawan was arrested from the International Airport on September 20, 2009.