NRI held for torturing wife, nine years after complaint

RUPNAGAR : A local court sent an Indian-origin US citizen to judicial remand till April 10 for allegedly torturing his wife, in a case that dates back to 2008. The order was passed by chief judicial magistrate Jasbir Kaur here on Monday.

Jatinder Vashisht, a US citizen, was arrested on Sunday by Punjab Police. He had managed to flee the country while facing allegations of dowry harassment and had returned recently after about nine years.

Vashisht had married a woman from Ghanauli village near Rupnagar on December 11, 2003. The woman accompanied her husband to the US after the marriage and on November 16, 2005, gave birth to a boy.

According to her, after the birth of the child, her husband and in-laws started torturing her for more dowry and even sent her back to India for bringing less dowry. Her father subsequently lodged a complaint at Sadar police station in Rupnagar against her husband, father-inlaw and mother-in-law.

A case under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 34 (common intention), IPC was registered against the three on April 5, 2008. Subsequently, Vashisht applied for anticipatory bail and was granted interim bail on the condition that he will deposit his passport. The passport was deposited with the police on April 19, 2008, but Vashisht later got it back, allegedly in connivance with police personnel.

On a complaint from the victim’s father, police conducted an inquiry against Sadar SHO Tejpal Singh and additional SHO Vinod Kumar and they were booked for dereliction of duty. In the meantime, Vashisht managed to flee the country and was subsequently declared a proclaimed offender.